Astro III: Androids Forever
by Astro Tenma
Summary: The third book in this series. Astro & Luna and their children get tangled up in the human world as it heads towards apocalyptic disaster. And yet the galaxy beckons as they struggle to save themselves and God's people.
1. Chapter 1: The Moon and Back

A small but deep shadow rippled tentatively across the sea of light.

"Hey God," it hissed finally.

"I greet you, my adversary," said the man wrapped in the light. "You may speak."

"When are you going to let me at those pesky androids? I mean, you've been keeping them hedged about with your protection all this time, and that's not fair! I demand the freedom to approach them like I do the humans, to prove to you once and for all that they'll drop you like a hot potato when left on their own."

"Go then and test them. You will see that they are stronger than they appear."

"Thanks, bud; I'll do that."

The shadow chuckled with satisfaction and vanished.

* * *

><p>Astro was working with Zog in the back lot of Hamegg's place filling out a melody they had come up with that afternoon, and Luna stared up at the nearly-full moon as she half listened.<p>

Oh Ran-tan, she thought. Why did you have to leave so soon?

"Yeah," linked Astro as he broke away from the music and followed her gaze upward. "Did we teach him enough to keep him out of trouble up there?"

Zog glanced from one to the other. "Excuse me if I'm intruding," it said, "but are you thinking about your child?"

"Yes, we are," said Luna, turning towards Zog. "After all, we only had a couple of months to give him what we had. I feel like he should have spent more time preparing."

"I see. And how would he have done that, if I may ask?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "Oh, I don't know. It's just that I think of how I was after just a couple of months of life, and there's no way I would have been ready for something like travelling so far away on my own."

"Three hundred thousand kilometres, and he can't even phone home," said Astro. "But let's face it: we learned what we did by getting out there and doing stuff. Besides, we haven't got any experience in space to give him."

She turned back to the moon. "I suppose you're right."

He lit up his wedding ring, strolled over to her, and took her hand. Her ring responded, and they faced each other silently, sharing their deep link.

Zog watched them for a moment, then decided that it was a good time to go see its robot, Dragon, parked off in a far corner of the lot. "Hello," it said to the robot once it found it. "It is at times like this that I wish you were alive."

"Why?" asked Dragon.

Zog hoisted itself up to sit on the robot's float. "I would like to experience the closeness that Astro and Luna share with each other."

"I can do nothing to help you."

"I know."

Zog stared up at the stars and remembered its one experience of the link, which Astro had set up briefly to help it face the frightening prospect of being transferred into this smaller body. Zog had found that contact to have been profoundly reassuring, so it had no problem understanding why its two friends used it so frequently.

* * *

><p>The manager of a local parts store called Astro first thing in the morning about setting up an account, and Astro arranged a face-to-face meeting with him for right after lunch.<p>

Astro entered the store at one p.m. "Hi," he said to the man at the counter. "I'm looking for Mr. Freed."

The man pointed down the counter to a door that stood ajar. "He's in there."

"Thanks."

He tapped on the door, and a man responded, "Come in."

Stepping inside, he said, "I'm Astro Tenma of Astro Speciality Shipping."

Mr. Freed stood up and offered his hand. "Thanks for coming. Have a seat."

Astro carefully shook the man's hand, then sat down. "So how can I help you, Mr. Freed?" he asked.

Sitting forward in his chair, the man said, "Please, call me Jon. Now, I handle a lot of small orders out of here, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to consider an arrangement where you charged according to weight."

"Why's that?" He had been charging a flat rate, since he had no overhead expenses besides the business phone connection.

"Well, when one of my customers buys a small item like this ..." He held up a tiny vial of automotive touch-up paint. "... he expects to pay less for delivery than if he bought a larger item like a power supply."

"My rate is the lowest in the city."

"I know that. But we're talking psychology here, expectations. Look, if you do this for me, it should work out the same for you, since it'll all average out in the long run, but my customers will be happier. And a happy customer is a loyal customer."

"Go for it," linked Luna. "If we get this account, we can start picking up some of the other retailers too, and stop depending only on the factories."

"Sure," he linked back. "Okay, Jon," he said out loud. "I like the idea. What sort of weight range are we talking about, so I can work out a rate schedule?"

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" Sludge asked Astro, who was standing at the pool table, busy with a box of small weights.<p>

"I'm calibrating my hands for my shipping business so I can tell my customers exactly how much my fee is without any waiting."

"Cool. I wish I could do that. Can you weigh me?"

Astro glanced at him. "I'm not set up for stuff over ten kilos, so no, I can't—not right now anyway."

He shrugged. "I miss Ran-tan. When's he going to come back?"

"No idea. He didn't say."

"Okay. When are you and Luna going to have another kid?"

"I don't know that either." Astro gathered up the weights in the box and closed it. "We'll keep you posted though."

* * *

><p>It had been three weeks since Ran-tan had left, and Astro stood in the midst of the most isolated part of the junk wasteland, holding the wooden box he stored Orkan in. He couldn't think of the white core apart from the android it had been the soul for, so he kept the name.<p>

Ready to resume the purification, he took Orkan and held it up in front of him.

"It must be working," he linked to Luna. "Orkan's a gram and a half lighter than when I started yesterday."

"It's still going to take a while, though. An adult blue core probably weighs a quarter of what that weighs."

"So I better get down to business," he answered, and his hand turned blue. Bolts of energy immediately started leaping out of the core and blasting the nearby junk piles.

Twenty minutes later, he heard a garbled message on his radio, so he released the blue energy for a moment to remove the interference. "Did you hear something?" he linked to Luna.

"Yeah! I think it's Ran-tan! It sounded like he said, 'Incoming'."

"He#! C#n you #ead me?" It was Ran-tan.

"We read you," radioed Astro.

"Y#y! I'll #e dow# in an #our!"

"An hour?" Astro linked to Luna. "He must still be well over a hundred kilometres up."

"You said our radios were getting more powerful, but that's unreal."

"No kidding."

* * *

><p>An hour later, a black figure in red boots and bulging lenses over the eyes touched down in the back lot where Astro, Luna, and a crowd of kids were waiting. It immediately rushed over to the two androids with its hands glowing blue.<p>

"Dad! Mom!" it linked when they were all connected. "Man, I really missed you!"

"Are you okay?" Luna asked. "Why did you come back so soon?"

In answer, loneliness and grief surged over them. "It was so empty up there," he finally replied. "I couldn't stand it any more. I ... had to come home." He shivered. "Dang it! I'm so weak! I couldn't even last two days there."

"It's not just you," Astro linked, then brought up his time when Luna had just gotten her core, when he had seen that without her he was nothing. "I doubt I could go very long without her," he added.

There was a brief silence, then Ran-tan linked, "I get it. That's what the link's all about."

"Yes," answered Luna. "Together we're strong. Um, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you all black? Problems with re-entry?"

Ran-tan chuckled. "Hardly. As soon as I got out of the atmosphere, I went like this. It just happened. I think it's a kind of armour."

Astro glanced around. "Maybe you'd better say 'hi' to all these guys before they get bored and leave. We can link up again later."

"Okay," replied Ran-tan and broke away. "I'm back," he exclaimed to the children, but they stared back at him doubtfully. "Oh right, the skin," he muttered, and turned it back to pink.

They giggled, and Lucas pointed and said, "He's all bare naked!"

"Oops," said Ran-tan, and turned to his parents.

"Here," Luna said, and handed him a small bundle.

He hastily pulled on the clothes as several of the older kids asked him what it was like on the moon.

"Well," he answered. "The sky is black with lots of tiny little stars in it, and the Earth is really bright and blue and a whole lot bigger than the moon looks from here; it's really pretty. And the ground up there is all grey and dusty—no plants or anything. It's super boring unless you like hopping around mountains—it's easier to hop than walk—but it looks like a place baby androids can find lots of yummy rocks to eat. I could jump almost a kilometre high in the low gravity and not even use my rockets." He hesitated, then shrugged. "I guess that's about it."

"Did you bring any rocks back?" asked Jerry.

Ran-tan rolled his eyes. "Duh! I never even thought of it. Sorry. Maybe next time."

"Are you going back again soon?" asked Madeline.

He seemed to wilt a little. "I don't think so, at least not alone."

"Can I come?" Grace asked.

Ran-tan looked at her, startled. "Why?"

"So you won't be alone, and so I can see too."

He shook his head. "There's no way humans can go up there. There's no air or water or just about anything besides rocks. You'd die."

"But there were astronauts long ago." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Can't I be an astronaut?"

Ran-tan glanced over at Astro and radioed, "Help."

"It's not that easy," Astro said. "The astronauts had to have big space suits and expensive ships to protect them and give them air to breath—stuff we don't have any more—and they had to take all their food and water with them. It was a real pain."

Grace scowled, but didn't say anything more.

"Okay," said Luna. "Time to run along, please. Ran-tan needs to rest from his trip."

"That's not true," radioed Ran-tan as the children started to head back inside.

"Maybe," replied Luna. "But just saying, 'That's all folks; now go away,' is rude. It's an excuse humans understand, and besides, I've got a feeling you really do need some recovery time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he radioed. "Because I've been wondering: Did I let God down by not staying to inhabit the moon?"


	2. Chapter 2: Reawakening

Astro thought for a moment. "What did God tell you?" he asked Ran-tan.

"Um, 'As I gave this Earth to humanity,'" quoted Ran-tan, "'so I give the galaxy to you and all robot-kind. Go, have many children, and fill it with joy'."

"Which came first, the children or the filling?"

"Oh. So I kind of blew it, huh?"

"Not really," said Luna. "You learned something important about yourself. That alone made your trip worth it."

"Besides," said Astro, "we all make mistakes, and if that's the biggest mess-up you make in your life, you'll be doing better than me."

"What do you mean?" Ran-tan asked.

"Come on," he said, resting his hand on his son's shoulder. "Let's link up over at the railway trellis, and I'll tell you all about the fall of Metro City."

* * *

><p>At around four o'clock in the morning, Ran-tan wandered out into the back lot and perched himself on an old crate while he gazed gloomily at the half-full moon.<p>

"Hello, Ran-tan," said Zog from a corner nearby. "Are you alright?"

"Not really. Last evening Dad showed me how he accidentally killed thousands of humans. It was kind of depressing."

Zog came over and stood beside the crate. "Why would he tell you such a thing?"

"He wanted to help me see that my mistake of going to the moon too soon was no big deal."

"Did he succeed?"

"Oh yeah."

"Why was going to the moon too soon a mistake?"

"I couldn't hack being alone. Down here I can link with Dad or Mom anytime, and I love it, but, up there ..."

"There is no-one. I understand." It followed Ran-tan's gaze up to the moon. "All too well I understand."

"How's that?"

"I have no-one to link with."

"That's harsh. You can link with me if you want." Ran-tan slipped down to the ground. "I've got no problem with it."

"Are you quite certain?"

"Yup." His hand lit up.

"I thank you very much."

* * *

><p>"Dad?" Ran-tan radioed a little later.<p>

"Yes? What's up?" Astro could feel a light strand of fear over the connection.

"Can we link?"

"Sure, but the kids will be getting up soon."

"I know. I'll try to be quick. Thanks."

A minute later, Astro came out to the crate, took Ran-tan's hands, and linked, "What's the matter?"

"I linked with Zog a few minutes ago. Was that okay?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I got to thinking after we disconnected: he could see everything I knew, like about you guys and stuff, and I got scared that there was things I shouldn't have let him see."

"Okay. Yeah, you're right. Some things we've shown you, you shouldn't go showing to others, because it's our business. If somebody does want to see it, you can send them to us. But now you know why I hesitated before linking with Zog myself."

"Oh man. I didn't get it back then. I'm so stupid!"

"That's not true, son," Astro snapped. "Sometimes it takes experiences like this to get a 'droid to look for better ways of doing things."

"How could I have done this better?"

"Let me upload a few functions that will allow you to keep private info secure from visitors."

Ran-tan relaxed. "Thanks, Dad. You're the best."

* * *

><p>Zog was sitting quietly in its corner of the lot playing a musical number to itself that it and Ran-tan had arranged two days before, when there was a loud clank from nearby. It got up to take a look, and found Ran-tan and Zane busily loading robot parts onto a cart. "What are you doing?" it asked as it came closer.<p>

"Hamegg's going to teach me how to build a fighting robot," said Zane proudly, "and we're getting the parts I've been collecting over the last couple of weeks so he can show me this afternoon."

"I look forward to meeting this robot soon," Zog said.

"Don't get all in a sweat about it. It might take me a while to figure out what Hamegg's showing me."

"I understand."

Suddenly, Ran-tan straightened up and stood still for a moment. "Got to go," he said finally. "Dad needs me to do a factory run while he does a retail one." He trotted over to the door to fetch his uniform, and called, "I'll be back soon," as the door closed. A minute later, he ran back out and launched himself into the air like a missile.

"I dearly wish that I could fly like he does," said Zog as it watched Ran-tan disappear behind some buildings.

"That would be pretty cool," answered Zane as he dropped an arm onto the pile. "But we can't do everything."

"No, I suppose we can't."

"Say, you wouldn't mind giving me a hand here now that Ran-tan's gone? I can't lift some of these parts by myself."

"Certainly. Glad to help."

When that was done, Zog returned to its station and sat down quietly. "God," it muttered softly. "I have seen through the link with Ran-tan what you have done for him, for Astro, and for Luna. It would be very kind of you if you could make me into a full android, but I will be content as a robot if that is what you wish. Thank you for your time."

* * *

><p>Astro sat in the centre of the clear space in the junk piles and watched as several more red sparks jumped out of Orkan and vanished with loud bangs, as arcs of white energy blasted away at the surrounding debris.<p>

"That's it," he muttered encouragingly to the core. "Get pure and blue."

He'd been at it, grabbing an hour here, two hours there, for over a month and a half, and Orkan was now down to just twenty-two percent above the mass of a blue core. The red sparks, however, were taking a lot out of him, since it took quite a bit of blue energy to destroy them, but there was no way he was going to take a chance with keeping them around.

After two more sparks disappeared, he decided he'd had enough and shut off the blue energy to his hand.

"I'm on my way," he linked to Luna, and stood up wearily.

"Take it easy," she replied. "You're pretty tired this time."

"Sure," he said as he started to plod toward Hamegg's. "It seems the smaller he gets, the more red I have to deal with. I'm glad it'll be over soon."

"Yeah. Just a few more days."

* * *

><p>Astro took Orkan out of its wooden box and hefted the core. "I think it'll be today," he said to Luna as he put him back.<p>

"Do you want me to come with you?—you know, just in case." she asked.

"Good idea."

There was a storm of red sparks this time.

"Here, give Orkan to me," said Luna after half an hour. "You better take a break or you'll go into emergency shutdown."

"Okay." He passed the core over, then shut off power to all of his motor functions so that recharging would go as fast as possible. However, he kept a careful watch on her as a precaution.

"Ran-tan, come here," she radioed before firing up her blue energy.

"What's up, Mom?" he replied.

"We need you here in case Orkan's too much for me. Your father's already had to stop for a while."

"On my way."

"Let's finish this," she said to Astro, then lit up her hand.

An hour later, Ran-tan was fighting to keep both his blue hands together, surrounding the fury pouring from Orkan.

"Ran-tan," said Astro. "Pass him over. I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be, and you're just about worn out."

"No problem, " he answered wearily, and gave him the core.

Astro inspected it carefully; it was still white. How much was it going to take?

He powered up his hands. The core fired off a single white bolt into the junk, then released a swarm of red sparks. Astro held on as they exploded, and then there was silence. He opened his hands, and there for the three of them to see was a blue core.

Before he could shut off the energy to his hands, he felt Orkan linking back to him—not a person, of course, but a presence, a presence more definite than he had felt with Ran-tan as a new baby.

Suddenly, pain shot through his hand that was cradling the core.

"It bit me!" he cried exultantly.

"Yippee!" Luna said. "Finally."

"You mean it's over?" Ran-tan asked.

"Yes!"

"Wahoo!" Ran-tan yelled and flopped backwards onto the ground, arms spread wide. "Thank you, God!"

* * *

><p>Zog watched, startled, as the three of them returned, with Luna carrying Ran-tan in her arms. She set him down once they were by the back door, but he seemed unsteady.<p>

It rushed over. "Are you alright?" it asked him anxiously.

"Just tired," he answered. "But we've finally finished with Orkan: It's a baby now."

"Baby? Do you mean that it will be an android again?"

"Yeah. We're giving it a second chance at life."

Zog stopped. Orkan was going to be a full android. That meant ... "Ran-tan?" he said hesitantly. "Can we talk?"


	3. Chapter 3: Addition

"Do you think it'll work, taking a core out of an android and starting over?" Astro asked after Ran-tan had explained Zog's idea to him and Luna as they met under the railway trellis for privacy. "Orkan sure looks to me like a special case."

"Of course I won't know till I try," answered Ran-tan. "But I've got to. When I talked with Zog, it wanted it in the worst way."

"It'll be busy with two babies around if it works, you understand," said Luna.

"No kidding," said Astro.

"Though it would be kind of cute to have them grow up together."

Ran-tan laughed. "They'd be the first androids to do that."

"This is really starting to feel weird," Astro said. "Not in a bad way: a good weird. I can remember when I was the only one not so long ago—I guess it's been about a year now—and soon we're going to have five." A tear trickled down his cheek. "I love it."

"Yeah," said Ran-tan. "I'll go tell Zog it's okay."

"Wait. You need to learn about raising children, so you at least don't make the mistakes we made with you. And then there's the matter of transferring his present mind into the kid when it's old enough."

"Oh yeah; I never thought of that."

* * *

><p>"Okay, Zog," Ran-tan said. "You're going to have to do a 'compile and archive' on everything in your memory now so I can download it and store it in my memory for later."<p>

"I understand. And then you will remove my core."

"You got it."

"Thank you so very much for doing this for me. I am ..." Zog suddenly found it difficult to finish.

"Scared?"

"Yes. Yes, even though I have gone through a similar process before."

"But it may not work this time."

"I know. We're not simply moving the core: I am trying to begin again. It is worth the risk."

"It's hard for me to understand how much you trust me."

"Indeed. But I do trust you. I am _ready_."

* * *

><p>Ran-tan stood in front of the now-lifeless robot an hour or so later, and gazed at the blue orb in his hand. It seemed so small to contain a soul, the essence of a robotic being, but how big was a soul anyway? Assuming it had a size at all.<p>

He gave his head a shake: that was getting way too deep for his taste. He'd better get down to business.

He linked with Zog, and it glowed back, present and alive.

"Yow!" he radioed a moment later. "That really does hurt!"

"Ain't parenthood wonderful?" Astro replied. "And that must mean your idea worked too. Way to go. Now come on over to the rock outcrop, and we can feed both of them at the same time."

"You bet! On my way."

* * *

><p>Five-week-old Zog, dressed in a colourful tie-dyed tee shirt, padded over to the corner of the back lot where Dragon was parked and patted the robot. "Hi Dragon," it said.<p>

"Hello," replied Dragon. "Who are you?"

"Silly, I'm Zog."

"My master's name is also Zog."

"That's me! I'm your master."

"No, you are not." It pointed at Zog's old robotic body lying in the scrap pile to one side. "That is my master."

"But I _am_!" It turned and ran back to Ran-tan, who was helping Zane with another fighting robot. "Daddy! Dragon doesn't believe I'm Zog!"

Ran-tan got down off of the stepladder. "Of course it doesn't. You're a full android now."

"Oh. But I want it to know I'm its master again."

"Sorry, Zane," he said. "I've got to get Dad to sort this one out. Back in a mo'."

"That's okay," said Zane, and Ran-tan ducked inside where Astro and Luna were playing with Orkan.

"What's up?" Astro asked him.

"I need your administrative override to persuade Dragon that Zog's its master."

He chuckled as he got to his feet. "Ah, the hazards of body swapping. Lead the way."

Zog watched anxiously while Astro performed the very brief ritual, then hopped up onto Dragon's float. "Come on," he said. "Let's go for a ride."

"Where do you wish to go?"

"Just around here, Zog" said Ran-tan. "You're not ready to go out of the yard by yourself yet."

"Aww." Zog sulked for a moment, then said, "Okay, Dragon. Take me around the yard."

"Yes, Zog."

"You're starting to sound like a parent," Astro radioed cheerfully to Ran-tan, who merely grunted in response.

* * *

><p>"They're <em>both<em> astros?" Luna said as she laid a clean sheet on Grace's bed upstairs.

"Yup," said Astro.

"So now we've got to get three lunas from somewhere. Any bright ideas?" She flicked the blanket so that it settled flat on the bed.

"Not one. We're going to have to leave it for God to sort out."

"I suppose."

* * *

><p>The now silver-haired Zog walked over to where Dragon was parked. He was fully grown up, although, like all the other androids, he had the appearance of a thirteen-year-old human. He pulled up his pant legs to show off his red boots to his robot. "See," he said. "I'm a full android now, just like I always wanted." He let his pant legs slip back down. "But you're still a robot." Grasping the edge of Dragon's float, he exclaimed, "You're still just a robot!"<p>

Suddenly his hands went bright blue, and the robot stiffened. Horrified, he jerked his hands away, but Dragon didn't react immediately. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

After a moment, Dragon said, "I do not know. I feel rather peculiar."

"Feel? Oh no. Oh no." He dashed around and checked the robot's power supply with his super-vision. "Dad!" he radioed. "Get out here, fast!"

Ran-tan burst out of the back door to Hamegg's and rushed over to Zog. "What's the matter?"

Zog pointed helplessly at Dragon's power supply, and finally squeaked, "Look."

Firing up his super-vision, Ran-tan stared, then said, "No way."

"What's going on?" Orkan called from the gate.

"You okay, Zog?" Astro asked as he and Luna came out into the yard.

Ran-tan straightened up as everyone gathered around Dragon, and announced, "We've got another android."

"I was wondering when it was going to get around to that," said Astro.

"So how'd it happen?" Ran-tan asked Zog.

"Um, I was just showing off my rocket boots to Dragon." He turned away, terrified that a mere wish of his had suddenly come true. "I-I got upset 'cause Dragon was still a robot, and my hands kicked into repair mode. I didn't mean to, honest."

Luna came over and took a look for herself. "That shot of energy must have been all that was needed to put Dragon over the top," she said, and rested her hand on Zog's shoulder. "What now?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Zog asked.

"Face it: you wanted this. So, are you going to make it a full android?"

"Oh." Flustered that his feelings were so obvious, he muttered, "I ... uh ... don't know."

"Why don't we ask Dragon," said Orkan.

"Good idea," said Ran-tan, wanting to help Zog over the hump. "Dragon, do you wish to be made into a full android?"

Dragon thought for a moment. "What does Zog want? If Zog wishes it, I will submit."

Ran-tan turned to Zog. "Okay, what do _you_ want?"

Zog gazed up into Dragon's metallic face. Okay, he did want it. No, he really _really_ wanted it. Steeling himself, he walked deliberately around to the power supply, opened it, and lovingly removed the blue core. As the empty robot settled onto the ground, he clutched the core to his chest, tears flowing down his cheeks, and said, "This is what I want. This is what I've dreamed of, that Dragon could be my friend. Dad, help me raise it please."

"No problem," said Ran-tan. "But what about its memories?"

"It just became an android. What memories does it have?"

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. Well, let's go inside, and I'll upload everything I learned from raising you."

Hamegg met Astro and Luna at the door. "What was all the excitement?" he asked.

"Dragon just became an android," Astro answered. "And Zog's going to raise it into a full android."

Hamegg put on a pleading expression. "Astro, I've been very patient up to now with your growing family, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask something hard." He led them off into a corner of the main room.

"What's that?"

Lowering his voice, he said, "I don't mind you two staying, since you help so much with my kids, and Ran-tan's been a big help to Zane, but I simply don't have room for more androids than that." He spread his hands in a gesture of apology. "I am truly sorry, but Orkan and Zog, now that they're grown up, and Dragon too, are going to have to find somewhere else to stay."

Astro grinned. "You're right. It may take me a few days to figure out how, but I'll get them settled some place as soon as possible."

"It'll be good for them," said Luna.

"Thanks," said Hamegg. "I thought you'd understand, but, you know ..."

Astro nodded. "Life goes on, sir. This is a problem I knew we'd have to face eventually, now that we can reproduce. It'll be interesting to see how it all works out."

As Hamegg trudged back upstairs to his workshop, he muttered, "Grown up? Ridiculous. They're still children for all that."

* * *

><p>"Zog," said Orkan, coming over as the crowd disbursed. "I know what we can do."<p>

"About what?" said Zog absently as he gazed at Dragon's core.

"I overheard Hamegg talking with Dad and Mom. We're going to have to move out soon."

Dragon bit into Zog's hand. "Uh ... move out?" he said vaguely, then, tearing his attention away, turned to Orkan. "What's your idea?"

"Let's go to the moon! There's three of us now, so we won't get lonely like Ran-tan."

"But Dragon's so little. What'll I feed it on the way? After all, it took Ran-tan nine days to get there."

"Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that. Let's go ask Dad."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"You sure they'll be okay?" Luna asked Astro two days later as they watched two vertical vapour trails drift in the clear evening sky tinted in shades of lilac and purple. Zog's and Orkan's clothes lay folded neatly by their feet.<p>

"Probably not," he said with a shrug. "But they'll sure learn a lot. And besides, if Dragon's a luna like we're hoping, they'll be back in a couple of months for a wedding anyway."

"Oh yeah, that's right." She took his hand, and their wedding rings lit up in the dusk.


	4. Chapter 4: Moon Madness

"Okay," black-skinned Zog radioed. "Dragon's hungry now."

They were about an hour out from having left orbit, and the blue mass of Earth still loomed large behind them.

"Alright," answered Orkan, also black. "Kill rockets ... three ... two ... one ... now!"

As they began to drift, Zog used his hand rockets to move over to his companion, then grabbed his backpack, peeled the flap open, and pulled out a slab of rock. "Got it," he radioed as he resealed the flap, and Orkan drifted a short distance away. Drawing Dragon out from its pouch strapped to his waist, Zog gently placed it on the rock and held it so that there was no chance of it getting away.

"Good to go?" Orkan asked.

"Yup. We'll have to stop again when it's done."

"I know. Start rockets ... three ... two ... one ... now!" He began the melody line they'd been composing for the trip, using the violin voice, and Zog chimed in with the piano accompaniment.

* * *

><p>"Four days, twenty-three hours, and fifty minutes," radioed Orkan exultantly as they settled side-by-side into a low lunar orbit to check out possible landing sites. "Those tips Astro gave me really helped."<p>

"Yeah," replied Zog.

"We'll do even better on the way back without the rocks."

"Whatever. Hup! It's feeding time again. Could you please dig a rock out of my pack?"

"No problemo. ... Here you go."

"Thanks."

Orkan gazed with his super-vision down onto the varied grey surface below them as it scrolled by. "Hey, there's one of those rover robots the humans sent. We should stop by later and pay it a visit."

"Sure. Which one is it?"

"Um, let's see. According to the records I was able to download before we left, it's one of the Lunar Wanderer series. It looks like this was one launched fifteen years ago, so a real oldie."

"Is it still working?"

"Its wheel drives are supposed to be shot, but its sensors are mostly still okay."

"Too bad we didn't hire ourselves out as maintenance 'bots, and come and fix it. That would have been kind of interesting."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. Maybe we can talk to Astro about setting something up later. I'll bet the humans would pay pretty good to get their stuff running again."

"Of course if we start coming here regularly, they'd hardly need robots like that when we could do their research for them instead."

Orkan thought for a moment. "That's even better! It would be so cool to help the humans learn stuff. Dr. Elefun might know who to talk to."

"Okay, Dragon's done eating." Zog passed the rock to Orkan and waited as he put it back in the pack. "So let's land."

"I'm on it."

* * *

><p>"Yee-hah!" Orkan exclaimed as he bounded high above the lunar surface.<p>

Zog was right behind him. "This low gravity is the greatest!"

"You think I can get over that mountain?" He pointed to their right as they reached the apex of their leaps.

"No way. It's way higher than we are right now."

"Watch me!" Orkan fired his hand rockets to get reoriented, then arrived at the base of the mountain in two bounds. Crouching down, he pushed off with everything he had.

Zog watched from a hill on the edge of a neighbouring crater as his companion sailed higher and higher, then hurriedly blasted off towards him when he slammed into the face of the mountain some three hundred metres shy of his goal. "Are you okay?" Zog radioed.

"Yeah," responded Orkan, sounding miffed. "Obviously you were right. Let's go see that Lunar Wanderer robot now."

"Okay. Which way is it?"

"Follow me." He took off in the direction of the Earth hanging above them, and Zog quickly went after him.

* * *

><p>"Oh hi Colonel," Astro said as he answered his phone. "What's up?"<p>

"I'd like you to have a look at this," said Colonel Devan. "It was taken by the Lunar Wanderer Fifteen robot yesterday afternoon as it was doing a panorama shot."

Astro pasted the incoming picture file into his processor. There were two black figures with glowing eyes standing together in a bleak grey place, one of them pointing at the camera. Oh boy. "Um, it looks like Zog and Orkan, two androids who are on the moon right now."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "I'll ask about Orkan later. So, exactly how many androids are there anyway?"

"Five grown-ups and one baby."

"Baby?"

"Yeah. It's kind of complicated."

"I suppose this has something to do with your 'little secret'."

"Oh yeah. Big time."

"Orkan too?"

"Yup."

Colonel Devan sighed. "I think it's time for you to tell me that secret, so at least I have a handle on things. You see, when this image came up, it scared the pants off of the technician who was manning the receiver."

Astro chuckled. "Let me guess: he thought they were aliens."

"Yes, it is funny, but you have to understand something: it could also be a nightmare if an image like this ever got onto the web. There are plenty of crazies out there who would happily start a panic."

"I'm sorry, sir. I had no idea."

"I know, but things have too much potential for blowing up to let your secret ride any longer. I can set us up for an interview tomorrow morning at a secure site if you want."

"I'd like that. Thanks."

* * *

><p>"Hey Orkan," Zog radioed as he let the still-pink baby feed on some exposed rock. "I can see Dragon's arms and legs now. Are they ever little!"<p>

"That's cool," replied Orkan from the side of a nearby mountain where he was preoccupied with working his way to the summit.

Zog stared. The limbs were so delicate, so fragile-looking, the body so defenceless, as if it could be shattered by a touch.

Suddenly a shadow fell across his heart. _He_ was delicate, fragile, and defenceless, a tiny and insignificant thing under the looming presence of Earth. What was he doing here? How could he possibly have thought it was okay to bring Dragon to this empty place?

He couldn't stay. He had to get Dragon back immediately.

"Where'd our backpacks go?" he asked Orkan.

"Why? What do you need it for?"

"Umm." No, he couldn't tell Orkan. "I was just wondering, you know, in case we need it for something."

Orkan hung on the side of the mountain and thought. They had already agreed that they didn't have any more use for those packs days ago, so Zog was hiding something. What? The only possible explanation had to be that he wanted to go back home, but that didn't make sense either. There was no way the 'droid would do that without talking it over with him first, and Zog hadn't so much as hinted that he wanted to leave. Something was going on.

Okay. He'd better deal with this, and now!

Blasting away from the mountain, he shot over to where he had left his companion and landed behind him. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed. "Planning to leave without me?"

Zog jumped, and rolled around from his crouch to sit and look up at Orkan. "I ... uh ..."

Orkan could feel the fear pouring over their radio link. "What are you so upset about all of a sudden, huh? There's nothing going to happen to us here! Come on, grow up!"

"I ... I-I'm scared, Orkan, really scared. We don't belong here, especially Dragon. It's so little and stuff. I don't want it to die!"

"It's not going to die! It's an android, and it'll take a whole heap of bad to kill it! Now stop this stupid talk and let's go exploring again!"

Zog cowered, covering his head with his arms. "Don't yell at me, please! I don't mean to be scared. It doesn't make sense to me either, but I'm scared! Please don't be mad at me," he whimpered.

Mad? Orkan glared at him for a moment, then realized that, yes, he was royally steamed. Why? Zog clearly needed his help, and he was being a jerk. Suddenly he saw that there was something weird going on: he and Zog had never been so upset before. What was with this?

He knelt down in front of his companion, lit his hand blue, and touched Zog's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he linked. "I shouldn't have yelled. What's wrong? You're not normally scared like this."

Zog relaxed a bit at Orkan's link, and looked up again. "I don't know. Something just kind of came over me, and then it all seemed so dangerous here. I'm sorry too."

"That's okay. Besides, God's not going to let anything bad happen, so come on, let's get going."

"Alright." He gathered up Dragon. "I just need to give it some skin, and then we can take off."

"Sure." Orkan let himself relax as well, and stood back up. He'd have to be alert in case something like this happened again.

A deeper shadow in the shadow of a large rock growled angrily and vanished.

* * *

><p>Colonel Devan leaned back in the squeaky old office chair behind the ancient desk inside a musty concrete bunker deep within a small mountain in the heart of Antemonain. "You androids are life forms," he said in awe.<p>

"That's what my dad, that is, Dr. Tenma, said," said Astro.

"Wow." He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. "I never imagined such a thing was possible. But your 'little secret' will not go beyond me. No-one else needs to know; no-one else _will_ know."

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate that."

"And I appreciate that you are willing to trust me. Now, hopefully you and your family will be able to live your lives with no further interruptions from me." He smiled.

"Sure." Astro grinned back. "And I'll make sure to tell everybody to stay away from the robots, so it doesn't happen again."

"You do that."

* * *

><p>Zog glanced behind him as the Earth sank slowly towards the horizon. They were flying around to the 'back' of the moon, where their home planet couldn't be seen, to check out several more robots.<p>

"There's a seismic station closest to us; it's still running," radioed Orkan. "Then we can scope out another Lunar Wanderer, number twenty-three I think. That one will be hard, because it's still able to move."

"And we've got lots of time," finished Zog. He could feel Dragon wriggling in its pouch. At two weeks old, it was starting to be a bit big, and he might need to get one of the backpacks just to carry the baby.

"That's right. Okay, down there by that really little crater."

"Yup. I see it. Let's go."

They started their descent, when Zog saw a bright flash come from Orkan's direction.

"What was that?" he radioed.

"I've been hit!" Orkan called back. "Help me!"


	5. Chapter 5: Troubled Memories

Zog responded instantly to his companion's distress call and swooped over to where he'd seen the flash. Scanning around, he found Orkan spinning out of control and heading in a long arc to the surface.

"My right arm's broken!" radioed Orkan. "I can't stabilize!"

Zog flew over and managed to tackle him somehow. Then, wrapping his legs around his chest, he regained stability with his hand rockets. "Okay," he said. "Let's get you onto my back so we can land." That done, he fired up his foot rockets to stop their fall.

Setting Orkan gently on the surface a few moments later, he checked the limp arm with super-vision. The skin was unbroken, but the elbow inside was shattered. "What happened?" he asked anxiously as he rested his blue hand on the injury to speed the healing.

"I think it was a meteoroid hit me. Oh, that feels better. Thanks."

In a couple of minutes, Orkan was able to flex his arm again. Still lying on the surface, he said, "You know, that was a close one. A few centimetres to the left and it would have hit my ... ." He shut his eyes.

Zog shuddered; he knew exactly what Orkan was driving at, but wondered if a meteoroid strike on the chest really would hit the core. Resting his head on Orkan's chest and giving him a firm hug, he linked, "We aren't going to die, friend. God won't let anything bad happen."

He returned the link. "Friend? I don't think so."

Zog grinned as he received a memory from Orkan that had come to him from Astro or Luna in a childhood link. "Androids forever," he echoed.

"Yes." He returned the hug enthusiastically.

* * *

><p>They leaned side-by-side against a large boulder as Zog gave toddler Dragon, who was now black, some skin.<p>

Orkan stared up at the bright jewel that was Jupiter. "I want to go there some day," he radioed.

"I'm sure you will," responded Zog as he followed his gaze. "I know I want to take Dragon there."

"What?" responded Dragon.

"It's okay," said Zog. "Orkan and I are just talking."

"Okay. You talk. I eat."

He grinned and linked with the child, just for fun.

Orkan noticed, and joined the circle.

"There are moons at Jupiter?" linked Dragon. "Like this moon?"

"I don't know if they're the same," responded Zog. "We haven't been there yet."

"Oh."

"They're different," Orkan linked. "Here's what I know." And he uploaded a file to both of them.

"I don't get it," said Dragon.

"Then you just put the file in the archives for when you're older."

"Okay Zog. I'll do that. I love you."

"I love you too, Dragon."

Dragon broke the link as it left to check on a rock off to its left.

"We'll really need to perfect our orbital mechanics if we're going to deal with all those moons," linked Orkan.

"No kidding. But no rush. There's still Mars and the asteroids before we get to them, according to this file."

"Hmm. A few years down the line, but we've got forty thousand, right?"

"Yup."

* * *

><p>Zog and Dragon flew side-by-side, with Orkan leading the way, as they left lunar orbit for home. Dragon's long brown hair was hidden beneath the black skin that could resist a meteoroid strike such as happened to Orkan's arm.<p>

"Oh God," Zog thought. "Thank you for Dragon and Orkan. You've given me so much, and I'd like to do something for you if I could. Let me know, okay?"

The memory Ran-tan had once shared with him floated into his consciousness. It was when God had given them the galaxy. 'Go, have many children, and fill it with joy,' he had said.

Okay. I can do that.

He began in his joy to play a rousing piece of music Ran-tan had taught him, and his companions quickly backed him up on it.

* * *

><p>"Incoming!" Orkan radioed as they braked hard above Earth's atmosphere.<p>

"He#," Astro came back.

"Hey yourself!"

"H#w ma#y?"

"Two astros, one luna."

"Und#rs#ood. Com# on #ome."

The three of them touched down in Hamegg's back lot an hour later where Astro, Luna and Ran-tan were waiting for them.

"Here's clothes for you," said Luna, holding up some bundles. "Now, who's who? I can't tell through that black skin."

They quickly sorted that out, then got dressed before releasing the protective skin and becoming pink, as Ran-tan had taught them.

"Oh, I feel so heavy," said Dragon, flexing her knees.

"Yeah," said Ran-tan. "It's an adjustment all right, but you'll get used to it."

"Okay. Will I also get used to all the colours? It's so confusing." She rubbed her eyes. "It was so nice and grey on the moon."

Zog laughed. "You think this is colourful? Just wait till I take you to see the flowers."

"You mean it gets worse?"

"A lot worse."

* * *

><p>"I'd feel kind of funny living with them now they're married," Orkan linked to Astro sitting beside him during the small party at Hamegg's place after Zog and Dragon's wedding. "Even if I am Zog's friend."<p>

"Sure," responded Astro. "Dragon likes the blandness of the junk piles around the old RRF hideout, so they'll be good there, for a while anyway. Maybe you can live out in the countryside for a while."

"Or the mountains."

"That's kind of far away from us, of course."

"Yeah, that's the problem."

"But you like their ruggedness."

"That's right." He stared at the newly-weds. "If their kid's a luna, Ran-tan should try for her."

"It's hard waiting, I know. But you're right: that's only fair since he's been waiting longer."

Orkan was silent for a couple of minutes. Then he reached over and linked, "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Once when I was six weeks old and we linked, I saw something in your mind that I didn't understand then, and I still don't. Did I live before?"

"... Yup."

"You're really uncomfortable about this. Was I that bad?"

"I was hoping you could have your own life without this, but, since you've brought it up, I guess I'll have to show you everything I know."

Orkan was startled with how grim Astro had become. "I'm ready."

"Don't be too sure." Astro pulled the memories and other files from his archives and bundled them together before uploading them. "There you go," he linked finally.

"What do you think?" asked Orkan. "Should I start looking at them now, or go somewhere and do it alone."

There was no hesitation. "Alone."

Orkan nodded and broke the link, then stood up and walked with determination through the door to the street. Glancing at Jupiter shining high in the late twilight, he made up his mind and took off for Metro Mountain, the place that still troubled Astro's thoughts when his guard was down.

Luna came over and sat by Astro after noticing Orkan's sudden departure. "Were you talking about something in particular with Orkan?"

Astro linked, "I gave him my memories of his previous life."

"Oh no. I thought you weren't going to tell him."

"He'd seen my thoughts about him in a link a while ago, so I figured it would cause way more hassle if I tried to deny it."

"I thought you'd hidden them?"

"I had, but it seems I can't help thinking about what he used to be every now and then." He smiled wanly. "I leak."

"He'll be okay, won't he?"

"I wish I knew."

* * *

><p>Orkan lay face down on the ground in the dark, his arms covering his head, and the dirt wet with tears.<p>

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."

A hand suddenly touched his back. "Dad could always hide his secrets, but he could never hide his feelings," linked Ran-tan.

Orkan spun away from him, horrified. "How ... how ...?"

"How did I get here without you hearing me?" He sat down on the grass. "I landed at the bottom and walked the rest of the way. No rockets, a lot less noise. And besides, you were a little distracted."

Orkan chuckled in spite of himself, wiped his face, and sat up. "So you know why I'm here."

"But you don't know why I'm here."

"Yes I do. You're here to try and help me put it back together."

"Well, yeah, some of that, but I also need to tell you the rest of the story. You see, he showed you what you once were, but I'll bet he never showed you how you got to be who you are now."

"You're right." He held out a blue hand. "So show me." A few minutes later, he released the link, more tears falling. "In spite of all I did, he loves me." He looked over at Ran-tan. "I've never doubted that, you know. That's why I can't help thinking of him as _my_ father too."

Ran-tan shrugged. "Becoming a parent is easy, according to what Dad's showed me, but _being_ a father or mother, that's something special. I don't mind sharing him." He stood up and offered a blue hand. "Come on," he said. "It's time to get home. You can go looking for your new place tomorrow."

They walked down the slope hand in hand.

* * *

><p>"God, I know I'm not responsible for what that old Orkan did, but it was still me in a way."<p>

Orkan stood, being warmed by the morning sun, on the ledge of Mount Wildfield where Ran-tan had been begotten. He'd even found the little divots in the rock where the tiny android had fed eight months before.

"I can't fix any of what he did," he went on. "And I sure can't bring those people back to life. So what can I do?"

"You can die."


	6. Chapter 6: Fire and Smoke and Mirrors

"'Die'?" Orkan exclaimed in fright. "Who the heck are you?" He looked around, but couldn't find the source of the voice.

"I am God, and I am most disappointed in Astro for letting you live, when I had determined that you should die. In fact, he has given me much to be angry about by letting Zog and Dragon become full androids against my wishes. I am beginning to regret having made him and Luna."

Orkan was stunned. How could God have not wanted Zog and Dragon to become full? And how could he change his mind about Astro and Luna, the most loving people Orkan knew? But this was God. What did he know?

"I don't understand," he said.

"Of course you don't: you're just a robot. How can you expect to understand the depths of my intelligence? Even the humans are superior to you androids. That is why you need to make things right."

Orkan reeled, terrified at what that last statement might mean. "How ... how can I do that, sir?"

"You must destroy Zog and Dragon, and then kill yourself. Once that is done, all will be as it should be. I await your obedience in this matter."

His worst suspicions confirmed, he croaked miserably, "Kill them and myself?"

The voice did not respond.

He crumpled onto the ledge sobbing. How could he kill his friend and his new wife? Maybe they even had a kid by now. And himself? He didn't want to die!

The wind whipped and mourned around him.

* * *

><p>Astro, flying over the neighbouring town of Cheshireton on a delivery, suddenly felt worried about Orkan.<p>

"You're feeling it too, huh," linked Luna. "I wonder if something's wrong."

"Only one way to find out. How about you go tell the new parents that we'll be gone for a little, and I'll pick you up when I get back."

"Alright."

* * *

><p>When they were twenty kilometres from Mount Wildfield, they ran into a line of thunderstorms that blocked their way.<p>

"What should we do?" Luna asked from where she sat on Astro's back.

"We go through," he said. "We're androids; we'll be fine."

Soon after they entered the clouds, a powerful downdraft dropped them almost to the ground below before they were able to get free of it.

"Wow!" said Astro. "This is a lot rougher than the storms we get around Robovale. Must be because we're near the coast."

"Just be careful," said Luna.

"Of course."

They flew on through more tempestuous winds, hail, and rain for some ten minutes, their way lit by continuous flashes of lightning and roaring of thunder.

Several minutes later, they awoke on the ground.

Astro quickly checked the mass of error and fault messages before sitting up. "Luna?"

"You okay?"

"I'm still working on that. You?"

"Well, functional at least."

"We must have been hit by lightning. My processor reset."

"Mine too. I thought you'd said that lightning wasn't a problem."

He stood up and pushed the rainwater out of his hair. "It usually isn't, so this is some monster kind of storm." Gazing defiantly into the turbulent sky, he said, "There's no way I'm going to let this stop us. Let's go find Orkan!"

She scrambled onto his back, and he shot skyward. When they arrived at the mountain ledge a little later, there was no sign of him.

"Orkan!" Astro radioed over all the usual channels, but got no response.

"Now what?" Luna asked.

"I'm going above this mountain. Maybe it's blocking me."

"Okay."

Two kilometres above the ledge, Astro tried again.

"Go away!" came back Orkan angrily.

"What do you make of the sub-text?" he linked to Luna.

"Terrible sadness; God; fear of death," she responded. "Good grief! What's he been up to?"

"Orkan!" Astro called again. "Who have you been listening to?"

A figure rose up out of the forest below and took up station a kilometre away at the same altitude as Astro. "God told me about you," Orkan radioed. "He's really disappointed, because you've been doing stuff he didn't want."

"He told you that? Show me!"

"What?"

"Send me the memory file. I want to see it for myself."

"You don't believe me?"

"That's not the problem. What you're saying doesn't sound like God to me."

"Um ... I ..." They could feel his struggle with doubt over the radio connection. "Okay. Here," he said finally, and uploaded the file.

"While I check this out," Astro radioed once he got it all, "how about you review the memories I gave you of my experiences with God."

"A-alright."

* * *

><p>"So if that wasn't God," linked Orkan as they sat in a circle on the mountain ledge, "who was it?"<p>

"I've got no idea," Astro responded. "But he was clearly trying to trick you and scare you into doing some nasty stuff, so I doubt he's any friend of God's."

"That was a horrible experience for you," said Luna.

"Yeah." Gazing off into the distance for a moment, Orkan said, "He was trying to get to me when I was down."

"You were feeling guilty about what Leader Orkan did," she said. "And I think you need to put that whole mess into God's hands. Forgive your past self."

"But-but all those poor people ..."

"Leave them in God's hands. Yours aren't strong enough. Never will be."

Orkan rubbed his hands together, breaking the link. "Right," he muttered, then said out loud, "Right. Thanks, Mom." After a minute's silence, he looked up at them and said, "Oh yeah, did Zog and Dragon have a kid yet?"

"Yep," said Astro as he stood up, and Luna scrambled onto his back. "Come on and see."

"You bet!" He jumped to his feet. "Let's go."

As they rose into the air, the storm loomed in front of them, and Astro started to head over the massive anvil head cloud that topped it.

Suddenly a great black dragon-like creature with fiery red eyes and mouth appeared in front of them. They swerved to avoid it, but it easily moved to block their way. Astro, startled at how scared he was of this thing, dropped to go under it, but it followed his motion.

"Go left," he radioed to Orkan, then went right.

This time the dragon split into two and closed that opening as well. "You may not pass!" it roared.

Astro flinched, but wondered why he was so terrified: the monster's appearance wasn't that horrible. God, help me, he thought.

"Fight it," Luna linked desperately.

The subtext of her fear washed over him, but he clenched his fists: fight it for sure. "Who are you to be getting in our way?" he bellowed, his voice amped up as loud as it would go.

"I am Adversary," it answered. "And I could wipe you three out in a heartbeat, but I choose not to—not yet anyway. Instead, let me make a proposition to you. If you're willing to hear me out, perhaps I will let you live."

"What do you think?" Astro linked to Luna.

"Let's at least give him a listen," she replied, somewhat calmed down. "Once he's given his spiel, we can go from there."

"Okay," he linked, then said out loud, "We're listening!"

"Very well," said the Adversary. "Here's the deal. Since you androids are the most powerful beings on the planet, I would like you to work with me."

"What's in it for us?"

"An excellent question. I would make you rulers of the world. How's that sound, hm? Think of all the good you could do, the poor people you could help."

Astro found himself becoming eager, wanting so much to relieve human suffering, to be praised for all the wonderful things he could do.

"Been there, done that," said Orkan unexpectedly. "It's not all you're making it out to be. In fact it's the pits."

"Oh yes, the resurrected one," Adversary growled.

Astro gave his head a shake: that was all wrong. How could he have fallen for it?

"Easy," linked Luna. "The subtext from this Adversary is incredible. I was falling for it myself."

Orkan drifted over to Astro and touched his arm for a link. "This guy's starting to remind me an awful lot of that false god back on Mount Wildfield."

"That makes sense," Astro replied. "Which means it's time to shut him down."

"Let's do it." Orkan drifted back to where he had been keeping station.

"Hey, Adversary!" Astro shouted. "It's no deal, got it?"

"I'm disappointed," replied the monster, sounding almost pleased. "Now I'll have to destroy you."

"Orkan!" came Zog's voice over their radios. "What's going on?"

Astro scanned around in the direction of Zog's signal with his super-vision, finally spotting two figures off near the western end of the massive storm. They were heading awfully close to Adversary.

"I'm okay," replied Orkan. "Why are you here?"

"Me and Dragon got worried about you. We would have come sooner, but Baby needed feeding."

Adversary wheeled around to face the newcomers. "Well, well," he said and shot a massive fireball toward them.

The two androids burst into flames and tumbled towards the forest below.

"Zog!" screamed Orkan and dove after them as Astro and Luna watched in horror.


	7. Chapter 7: Doubts and Lies

Astro watched in horror as the three androids plummeted into the forest. Then suddenly he was enraged, his heart burning to punish Adversary. "Hold on," he linked grimly to Luna on his back. "I'm going to try and settle this."

"I'm ready," she replied as she tightened her grip, and he rocketed towards Adversary's great chest, the action reminding him vividly of his final run against the giant Peacekeeper over a year before.

"So, you're taking me on!" Adversary roared and unleashed a sheet of flame at them.

Astro flinched in terror even though the fire was still well in front of them: This had to be the stupidest thing he'd ever done. He was going to be killed—but the monster couldn't be allowed to get away with what it had done.

"Hang in there," Luna linked urgently. "We're not going to die!"

Right, he thought: God. That gave him something to hold onto—even though God hadn't given them any guarantees—and he clenched his fists: think bullet.

The dragon belched fire at them again, and they couldn't dodge it. Flying straight through it, they were engulfed in flames.

Luna tightened her grip against the fiery pain and linked frantically, "Finish it! Finish it!"

The pain ...

Astro upped his rocket power to absolute maximum even as he felt like he was melting away to nothing. But there was something missing: fault codes and error messages from his processor. That meant ... Yes!

They hit the creature at five hundred kilometres per hour, and it screeched bitterly and vanished in a vast cloud of smoke.

Astro and Luna were flying along entirely flame-free—not even scorch marks.

"The fire was another lie!" Astro cried over the radio as he throttled back his rockets.

"Wild!" exclaimed Luna.

"Yeah!" came from Zog as the three of them shot up out of the trees. "Now you better tell us what's been going on here so we've got some idea what hit us. That seriously hurt!"

"No problem," Astro said, but suddenly went cold.

"Do not think that I'm gone, you android with your petty revenge," came the harsh voice of Adversary near his right ear. "I'm not near finished with you." He chuckled wickedly. "Your precious humans will listen to me, and they, _they_ will become your enemies."

Astro felt that terror creep over him again, then realized where it must be coming from: Adversary's subtext. "You're scared of me, aren't you?" he said as understanding dawned. "I'm dangerous to you in some way, and you're terrified. Okay; bring on your worst."

All he heard was a ferocious, enraged snarl, followed by silence.

"I'm not scared for us," linked Luna as the others got close. "But what about the poor humans."

"All we can do is what we're able to," he replied. "It's our best destiny."

"I hear you."

Once they were together above the mountains, they headed over the storm, which was showing definite signs of weakening. They all related their experiences of Adversary as they went, then fell into a thoughtful silence.

"Um, Dad," radioed Orkan after a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming for me."

Astro drifted over to Orkan, took his hand, and linked, "You're welcome, Son."

* * *

><p>Astro glanced around his father's and Dr. Elefun's apartment, now cluttered with boxes. "So Dad's finally moving into that house he bought."<p>

"That's correct, my boy," said Dr. Elefun. "But I must admit, to my chagrin, that I will miss his company." He brought his mug of tea over and sat down in the easy chair, and Astro took the couch. "Now, what is on your mind today?"

"Luna and I were up on Mount Wildfield yesterday, checking up on Orkan, and we ran into a strange being that goes by the name of Adversary. It tried to destroy Orkan by pretending to be God, and then turned into a dragon type thing and tried to wipe nearly every one of us out with fake fire. Do you know anything about such a creature?"

"I believe so, but you were successful in refining that white core?" Astro nodded, and he asked, "How did you do it?"

Astro held up his hand, glowing blue. "We can use our energy to repair robotic beings, and that's how I was able to purge the white energy and destroy the red."

"You were able to get rid of it? That's outstanding. What is Orkan like now?"

He smiled. "One of the family."

Dr. Elefun nodded, satisfied, and took a sip of tea. "Now, about that Adversary fellow: Before God created humanity, he created beings we call angels—likely out of the same sort of substance our souls are made of—whom he gets to do various jobs, most of which actions are unseen by us. The chief angel, for reasons unknown to us, decided that he should take God's place and rebelled, along with a vast number of the angels under him. However, his uprising failed, and he was thrown out of God's presence and into the universe, where he vents his anger against us humans. That is Adversary."

"How powerful is he?"

"In reality, not very. You see, over twenty-two hundred years ago, God became a human being and took everything that Adversary could throw at him, including death, then returned alive. The result was the complete stripping of Adversary's power. Today, all he is able to do is to try to persuade us to be afraid or to doubt, but once he succeeds in those, which he does all too frequently, he has great power over us."

"Okay," said Astro. "What happened to us confirms that, because he really gave us a scare, but we were able to drive him off by standing up to him."

"Oh, very good. Now there's much more to the story, of course, but I think that gives you what you need to know for the moment. Do you have any other questions?"

"Um, yeah, one: is he immortal?"

"Yes."

"Oh well, whatever." Astro stared thoughtfully at the floor for a moment, then said, "I'll pass what you've told me on to the other androids so we can hopefully stay out of any more trouble. I doubt he'll let us stay out of his way for very long."

"Indeed." Dr. Elefun took his mug over to the sink, then came back. "Did you know that your father will be getting married early next year?"

Astro sat up abruptly. "What? Who to?"

"A woman named Melissa. He said you should know her."

"Sam's mother," said Astro. "Way to go, Dad. I guess that explains the new house. I'll have to go congratulate them the next time I'm at the factory. She still works there, right?"

"Indeed she does. She is in fact the supervisor of the people who do the wiring assemblies."

"Cool."

"That's so sweet," linked Luna. "It looks good on her."

"I guess that's why Sam hasn't been around Hamegg's for a while," he linked back. "I'll have to find out how he's doing." He turned back to Dr. Elefun. "Well, thanks for your help on Adversary. I'll split now and go tell the other guys."

"You do that."

* * *

><p>"Where's Orkan at?" Astro asked Luna the next afternoon after returning from a parts run.<p>

"I don't know," she said as she cleaned up the pool table at Hamegg's in preparation for supper. "Did you check with Zog and Dragon?"

"I'll do that right now."

"Nope," said Zog as he sat outside the RRF shack door feeding Baby some skin. "He was around this morning for a little. He seemed a little put out and wouldn't say much."

"Hmm," said Astro. "You think what happened yesterday is still bothering him?"

"Of course."

"Let's see," he said thoughtfully. "If I was feeling depressed, where would I go?"

He found Orkan sitting half-way up the side of Metro Mountain staring at the moon, misty-looking in the clear sky, and sat down beside him.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Where'll I go?" Orkan muttered after a minute.

Astro took his hand in both of his and linked, "I've got an idea. Why don't we all scrounge a batch of old building materials and junk, and build you a house for unwed androids out near the RRF shack."

Orkan stifled the chuckle that rose up in reaction, then snapped, "Dad! This is serious!"

"I'm serious too. Life goes on. The house can be smaller than the shack, and you'll be near Zog."

Irritated, Orkan asked, "You want to do that right now?"

"No way." Astro stood up. "You've still got to accept that we're mortal—that you can die."

Orkan stared off into the distance at an old communications tower. "I don't like it though."

Astro gazed at him. "Neither do I, but, in some crazy way it's our best destiny." Turning to go, he said, "Call me when you're ready to start building."

"Sure, Dad."

* * *

><p>A little way down the slope, out of Orkan's sight, Astro stopped and idly examined a rusted girder that jutted out from the ground. The pain he had felt in that link with Orkan was more powerful than he had expected.<p>

God, he thought. Where does a 'droid go to escape an enemy like Adversary that's usually invisible, has the steel will that comes from pure hatred, and loves death?

He shuddered. He had figured those last two points out from Adversary's subtext. Adversary rejected love—by rejecting God—and he must want to give death, as they had witnessed.

I don't feel very safe, God, he thought. I know you have to be way more powerful than anything you've made, so you don't have a problem with him. I do though, but then I don't even have a clue how to deal with _you_. You're so ... out there. I wish you were close, like Luna and the others.

What's Adversary going to do to the humans? Why do they have to suffer because of me?

"Because they aren't listening to _me_," said God.

"God!"

"Why are you so afraid? Why do you doubt me after all this time?"


	8. Chapter 8: The Devil at Play

Astro felt exposed: God could of course see all that he thought and felt. "I'm sorry, sir."

"I am closer than you can imagine."

"But I can't link with you whenever I want like I do with Luna."

"Linking with me is no harder; it's just different. You need only to think about me, move with the yearning that you have for me, and you are with me. I am there always."

"But will you answer me?"

"Yes, but usually not with words: sometimes with urgings such as you and the others have felt at times; more often in what happens around you. Remember, your best destiny is in my hands always, and I didn't create you—or the humans for that matter—to live your lives apart from me."

"I know that." He felt tears start to flow. "That's why I want to be able to link with you. I want you!"

"You have me when you trust me. That involves a kind of dying, Astro, a dying to yourself, letting go of your desire to see and feel. If you trust me, you have no reason to be afraid, for I am God, and nothing happens without me."

"I understand." He wiped his face with his sleeve. "You're infinite, and I'm nothing."

"But, for all your nothingness, I made you to be everything to me; I love you."

He leaned against the girder and pressed his cheek against its cool rust-encrusted surface, overwhelmed by God's subtext. "Thanks, Daddy."

Luna was there in the link, silent, but her subtext was also wrapped up in 'Daddy.'

* * *

><p>Astro touched down at Tim's Automotive Repair Shop, one of his regular stops, several days later, and went into the rather grubby office. "Here's those parts for that antique car," he said to Tim Pershaw as he deposited the package onto the cluttered counter.<p>

The man looked around from checking a manual on his computer display and said, "Say, you're not human, are you?"

Startled by the unusual question, Astro said, "No, sir; I'm an android."

"Hm. You know, I never noticed till I saw you just now, landing with those rockets in your feet. I always thought you were just some ambitious kid out to make a buck." He gave Astro the money for the shipping and returned to his work without saying anything more.

"That was kind of weird," linked Astro as he went outside and took off. "He's always been a friendly guy up to now."

"I know," Luna replied. "I wonder what's with him."

* * *

><p>Astro picked up Zog and Dragon's four-week-old child from the floor of the shack and said, "Evan-sa, huh. How'd it pick that name?"<p>

Dragon grinned. "We'd just uploaded the language files to it yesterday, and I told it it had to chose a name. It said, 'I don't want to', and I said, 'Maybe, but even so, we've got to call you something.' It liked the sound of 'even so.'"

Astro made a face when Evan-sa grabbed his nose, and it giggled. "I wish there was some way of telling whether it'll be an astro or a luna," he said.

"You're just worried about Ran-tan getting a wife," Zog said from where he was sitting at the old desk. "Slow down. We only have to wait another month."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Put me down, please," Evan-sa said firmly, so he put it back on the floor, and it toddled over to Dragon.

"No deliveries today?" Zog asked.

"It's weird," Astro answered, "but my retail business has just about dried up, and two of the factories aren't calling me any more."

"Adversary," said Dragon, and Zog nodded.

"Of course. I'd forgotten about him."

"I doubt it, robot-brain," linked Luna from Hamegg's place. "You didn't want to admit Adversary could do it."

Astro fed her comment through his mouth so Zog and Dragon wouldn't be left out, then said glumly, "Not exactly. It's that I can't believe humans will pay more to someone else just because I'm robotic. I mean, what's the big deal?"

"Pull Toby's history lessons out of your archives," Luna linked. "There's plenty of evidence of humans being prejudiced against other humans for the stupidest reasons. This isn't new with you."

"Who's Toby?" Dragon asked.

"You don't know?" Astro said, surprised.

"I've never heard of him either," said Zog.

"Oh. I guess we never told you." He thought for a moment. "Luna and I were never begotten; we were both manufactured by Dr. Tenma to replace kids who had died. He made me to look like his son Toby, and Luna replaced a girl named Suzanne Harrington, the daughter of a rich family that lived in Metro City. That's why we call Dr. Tenma 'Dad'; he made us both and gave us the memories of those humans."

"Weird," said Zog. "So you never grew up as androids."

"Nope. Our memories were of growing up human. It was a real experience for us to raise Ran-tan."

"No doubt. And that makes you two the first parents."

"Not exactly," linked Luna. "Tell them about how I became android."

"Right," said Astro. "Technically, I'm the first parent by myself because Luna was made with a regular robotic power supply—no blue core. A little while after she was built, I gave her some blue energy because she'd let her power level get too low, and God turned her into an android. Only Orkan doesn't come from my core's energy."

Zog considered that. "I guess that's why you've got a soft spot for the humans: you know what it's like. We've never been there."

"I suppose."

"Have you ever thought about starting over, like Dragon and me?"

"Yeah, actually. Luna and I discussed it once and decided against it. We're happy the way we are, even if we can't follow you guys into the galaxy."

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, as Astro walked towards the old railway trellis that would pass by Hamegg's further down the line, Luna linked, "That history lesson awakened some old thoughts."<p>

"It sure did," Astro replied. "And so did God. Over three weeks ago, he told me to move with my yearning for him."

"Yeah, I remember."

"I yearn to help humans. I've yearned that, like, right from the start."

"You pestered Hamegg a lot about it when you were trying to figure things out. He still mentions it now and then."

"Poor guy." He kicked at a stone. "I really wanted to know what I was for—what my purpose was—and he couldn't help me. And I tried to figure out what I could do, but God's been dropping clues all along."

"They weren't specific jobs either."

"Nope. Rescuing those humans in that train car as Metro City fell apart was more what God wanted from me than those plays we did, because I had to do it." He saw Hamegg's place ahead, and dropped down the slope to the roadway below. "How could I not have done it?"

"We need to find out what moves us like that," Luna linked. "We don't need to look for it though."

"Just trust God, and it'll happen."

"Right."

Suddenly he noticed her walking towards him, and ran to meet her, grabbing her in a big hug when they met.

* * *

><p>Astro was doing a parts run for his father to Sanpacho, the capital city of Antemonain, when he spotted a large silver car on the multi-lane highway below him, speeding along far faster than the other vehicles and weaving in and out of traffic. Then he saw several police cars tearing along some way back, so he tuned into the emergency channel to find out what was happening: They definitely wanted to stop this guy, though they didn't say who it was.<p>

A National News flitter zoomed by to his left, and he scanned until he found their radio.

"Provinio looks like he's going to get away," exclaimed the reporter. "The police can't keep up in this traffic."

Astro did a quick search of the name, and learned that there was a prominent terrorist by that name—first name: Danilo. He'd have to wait for confirmation, though, because there were plenty of other Provinio's who came up too.

"He's cut off somebody down there!" the reporter went on. "Ooh, that's bad. They lost control, and now there's cars piling up. Call Emergency Services, Jack!"

Well, thought Astro, whether this dude's a terrorist or not, he needs to be taken out of action before he kills somebody.

He dove down until he was a couple of dozen metres above the traffic, then shot ahead until he was just past Provinio's car. Dropping in front of it, he grabbed the front bumper and ran his rockets hard to slow the car down, but it bucked upwards and unexpectedly started to fly—most cars weren't built for that. Startled, Astro forced it towards the side of the road, then drove its nose down, causing it to plow into the grass and shrubs along the side of the highway. The police cars were on the scene in moments, and heavily-armed officers aimed their weapons at the vehicle from behind their own.

Astro landed beside the officer who appeared to be in charge and asked, "Who's in there?"

"And who might you be?" asked the man.

"I'm Astro Tenma. I'm an android, and I'm just trying to help."

"I'm Captain Pike, and thanks for what you've done for us, but you'd best stay out of the way. That's Danilo Provinio, the terrorist, and he's heavily armed."

As if to confirm the point, a gun suddenly rose up out of the trunk of Provinio's car and started firing at the surrounding police cars. Of course, everyone took cover.

Astro glanced around, then said to the officer, "I'll get that." Before the startled man could respond, he shot into the air and swooped down to tear the offending weapon off of the car. An instant later, the car started to take off again, so he leaped onto the hood and drove his fist into the engine. It flopped back onto the ground, skidding a short distance.

He flew back to Captain Pike and asked, "Now what?"

"Um, I didn't know we had robots with your capabilities. Just a moment." He turned to his phone. "Yes, sir, the car's been disabled. What should we do now? Yes, sir. I'll see what's possible without loss of life." Jamming the phone back in his pocket, he said to Astro, "You think you can get him safely out of that car so we can arrest him?"

Astro studied the car for a moment. "Let me try something." He ran over and hopped onto the car's roof. Punching his hands through the top of the front windshield, he peeled the roof back about a metre. However, a grenade suddenly flew up towards him and detonated, throwing him back into the grass. Provinio then popped up and proceeded to lay down heavy gunfire at the police, ducking back down when he ran out of ammunition.

Astro jumped back onto the roof, which now showed heavy armour plate underneath the blasted surface. Okay, time to finish this. He hopped inside the car, turned, and grabbed the man's arm with a blue hand. Provinio dropped like a rag doll.

Before Astro let him go, he noticed an odd tattoo just above the wrist on the inside of the arm: a black snake in a circle biting its own tail, and enclosing the red head of some horned animal.


	9. Chapter 9: Entries and Transitions

"What did you do to him?" Captain Pike asked Astro as Provinio was being strapped to a stretcher to be taken to the hospital.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you, sir," said Astro, "but he'll probably wake up in an hour or so, and he'll be in serious pain. Somebody who had it done to them told me it felt like burning up from the inside, but it'll go away in maybe another hour. It shouldn't do any real damage." At least that's what happened to poor Sludge ...

"I see." He went over and had a brief conversation with one of the paramedics, which involved a couple of nods in Astro's direction.

When he returned, Astro asked, "Did you see that tattoo on his arm? Is it anything special."

"The goat's head in Ouroboros?" Pike asked, and Astro nodded. "He's a Mellanine."

"What's that?"

"The Mellanines are a bizarre religious cult from Northern Africa, sworn to the overthrow of all authority but that of their god. They seem to be a tiny group, and normally they're very secretive, as you can imagine, but we were lucky when we flushed this one out." He glanced at the ambulance as it pulled into traffic. "He has an uncharacteristic weakness for women—uncharacteristic for a Mellanine that is. They have a very strict code of conduct."

"I see," said Astro. "Do you think I can go now? I've got a delivery to make."

"I would like to get some contact information from you, if I could."

"Sure." Astro whipped a business card out from a jacket pocket. "Will this do?"

Captain Pike examined it carefully, then said, "Thank you. It will serve admirably. You may go."

* * *

><p>Astro was strolling through the corridor of his father's factory a week later, having just picked up a parts order from the back, when Tenma came out of his office and spotted him.<p>

"Ah, Astro," he said. "I need to show you something." Leading the way back into his office, he picked up a piece of paper off of his desk. "Dr. Elefun found this on his apartment door yesterday morning. Can you tell me what it's about?"

Astro took the page. On it was a picture of himself, obviously taken from one of the webcasts of his takedown of Provinio. A gunsight type of target had been added, centred on his head, and underneath was the goat's head in Ouroboros, the snake that was eating itself.

He laid the paper on the desk and said, "I've made an enemy, it looks like. Though why they stuck it on his door, I haven't got a clue."

"Oh, that's easy enough to figure out," said Tenma. "When you were getting set up in business, that was the address you used."

"Publicly available information."

"Exactly. And of course you don't really have a permanent residence even yet."

"Yeah," said Astro nodding. "I'm pretty sure I don't want my business mail coming to Hamegg's. It might get lost."

"Might?" came the snicker over the link.

Tenma picked the paper back up. "So what's this all about?"

"That guy I helped catch last week, Denilo Provinio, is a member of some fringe cult called the Mellanines. I've been able to find out a little bit about them on the web, but they don't seem to be big on promoting themselves. And that weird symbol might have some connection with Adversary."

His father sighed and flipped the paper into the disposal, where it was safely and securely vaporized. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Of course, Dad. Always."

* * *

><p>Astro poked his head in at Hamegg's workshop, and saw Ran-tan helping Zane at the welding station. "Hey, son," he radioed when Zane stopped welding for a moment. "You ready to marry Evan-sa?"<p>

"Dad," Ran-tan snapped. "It's still a child."

"Not for a lot longer."

He wilted. "I know."

"Okay," said Zane to Ran-tan. "Hold this right here, like this." He positioned an arm, and Ran-tan took firm hold of it while he welded.

Astro, satisfied that he'd planted the seed, went back downstairs and helped Luna with supper preparations.

"Dad?" Ran-tan said a little later from the kitchen door. "Can we talk?"

"Sure. Come on in." He continued to stir the stew.

Comfortable in the knowledge that a private chat with Dad always included Mom because of their wedding link, Ran-tan sat himself down in the beat-up chair in the corner. "What can I do about Evan-sa?" he asked. "I never had this problem with Zog because I didn't even think I'd be marrying ... well, him. It was like he was my own child."

"A mistake on all our parts," said Luna gently as she cut up some celery. "But we learn."

"Why don't you take Evan-sa to the beach so it can eat a good load of silicon sand?" said Astro.

"Or anywhere there's good rock," Luna added as she dropped the celery into the pot. "Just be together. Link with it and teach it. Make it a part of your life."

Ran-tan nodded. "Okay. Basically like I did with Zog, but knowing we might be getting married soon."

"You got it," said Astro. "So why don't you go take it off of Zog and Dragon's hands for a bit, before it has to go to sleep."

"Right." He stood up. "Thanks, guys."

* * *

><p>Orkan stood nervously outside the RRF shack door three weeks later and radioed, "Ran-tan? Can I come in?"<p>

The door immediately popped open, and Ran-tan ushered him in with a sweeping gesture of his hand. "What's up?" he asked as he closed the door.

"Um," said Orkan. "Can I see the baby?"

"Thinking marriage, are you?" said Evan-sa cheerfully from the back.

"Yeah, of course." He turned to Ran-tan. "What's it like being married? You know, having someone else always in your head after being alone for so long."

Ran-tan laughed. "It's only been eight months since I became adult."

"I know, but still ..."

"Let's see." He looked over at Evan-sa. "It's like we're two persons, but one android. Before we were married, I'd thought it would be neat to have our honeymoon at Mount Wildfield like Dad and Mom, but once we were linked, it was obvious we'd have to be here, close to Zog and Dragon ... uh, that was clear as mud, wasn't it?"

Orkan stared at the floor. "It does sound kind of weird, but I guess I've got to be there to get it. I'm not sure what it was like for Dad before Mom became an android, but I know that, when he linked with me when I was little, there was always this subtext of gratitude for her whenever he thought of her."

"I know what you mean. It must have been incredibly hard for him to be alone, the only one, without any hope of finding anybody like him."

"Yeah."

"Here," said Evan-sa, coming over and laying the little pink sphere that was Baby in Orkan's hands. "It's just had some skin, so you won't get bitten, for a little while anyway."

"Go ahead and link with it," said Ran-tan. "You won't get much back this early, but it's still kind of cute."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"Mr. Astro Tenma?" the unfamiliar female voice asked over the phone. Astro and Luna had been jamming musically with Zog and Dragon in their new little home out in the junk field close to the RRF shack when the call came.<p>

"Yes, ma'am, that's me."

"I am calling from the Civil Defence Administration for Wesaimin," the country that Antemonain and Foredan were both provinces of, "and I've been asked to set up an interview between you and members of our Secret Service Division."

"Sure, but what for?"

"One of our regional commanders, General Devan, observed your involvement with the arrest of Danilo Provinio, and he recommended that we contact you about a mission that your _particular_ talents might be useful in. Would you be willing to come to Gattshier," the national capital, "at our expense to brief you on that mission so that you can make an informed decision?"

"Devan got promoted?" Luna linked.

"I don't know," Astro replied. "Maybe it's somebody with the same name."

"Oh yeah."

"No problem," Astro said to the Civil Defence Administration (CDA) woman. "When do you guys want to get together?"

"How soon would you be able to get away?"

"I'd just need a few minutes to arrange things for my business, and I could be there ..." Gattshier was roughly a thousand kilometres away to the northeast. "... in about four hours—three if you want me there sooner."

"Um, well, four hours would be plenty. Do you need directions?"

"Oh, right. I guess a map of Gattshier would be nice so I'd know exactly where to go. How soon could you upload one to me?"

"It'll take me a few minutes to prepare it."

"Okay. You can send it to me by this phone number, and as soon as I get it, I'll be on my way."

"Thank you, Astro."

"So who's going to take over Astro Shipping while you're gone?" Luna asked when the call ended.

"I'll ask Orkan. He's free right now."

* * *

><p>"I'm Astro Tenma," he said to the receptionist at the CDA headquarters in Gattshier.<p>

"Thank you, sir," the man in the black suit replied. "Please take a seat over there, and somebody will be with you in a moment."

"Sure." He sat.

A couple of minutes later, General Devan came out into the lobby and approached him.

Astro stood up and said, "Hi, sir. And congratulations on your promotion."

"Thank you, Astro. It's good to see you again." They shook hands, and Devan led the way into the depths of the building. "And thanks for coming so promptly."

"No problem, sir. What's this all about anyway?"

"We were able to obtain some extremely valuable intelligence from Danilo Provinio's computer regarding the Mellanine organization and the location of its headquarters."

"And why me?"

"You, because every human operative we've sent to delve into Mellanine's secrets in the past has come up dead."


	10. Chapter 10: Towards the Snake Pit

Astro felt rather small as he sat on one side of the vast table, facing a half dozen suits in a large, dimly-lit meeting room. General Devan sat beside him, checking information on his phone/computer.

One of the suits leaned forward and said, "Astro Tenma, welcome, and thank you for coming. To begin with, I would appreciate it if you would inform the panel of your military background."

"Sure," he said, standing up, though it didn't help him feel much taller. "I served in the civil war against Leader Orkan under then Colonel Devan."

"Did you actually engage the enemy?"

"Yes, sir; four times. I lost my first battle against those large manned robots that Leader had created, but, having figured out their weaknesses, I beat them the next time, capturing two of the robots and their pilots. The third time, Leader spread his forces out quite a bit, trying to weaken my effectiveness, but I was able to take advantage of that and defeat them again, mostly using their own weapons against them."

"And then you faced Orkan himself. I understand that you defeated him single-handedly."

"Not exactly: My wife and son helped." That stirred up considerable discussion among the suits.

"Astro," said one of the other men finally, "you are a robot, are you not?"

"I prefer 'android' because we're more than robots, but yes, sir."

"'Android', then. Kindly explain your relationships with your, um, wife and son."

"We're robotic beings, with free will, who can reproduce. I'm married to Luna, and Ran-tan is our son."

General Devan stood up at that point. "Gentlemen. Although a discussion of Astro's nature would no doubt be very informative, it is not relevant to the matter at hand. What he has revealed to you, however, is sufficient to make clear that he can make a unique contribution to our work here regarding the Mellanine organization. He is quite capable of making effective decisions in the field without any intervention on our parts when things turn out differently from our expectations."

"But can they not destroy him as they have done to our operatives up to now?" asked a third suit.

Devan leaned over to pick up his briefcase, and whispered to Astro, "Sorry, Astro. Please trust me." Laying the case on the table, he opened it and pulled out a large-calibre semi-automatic pistol which he pointed at Astro's chest.

The shot threw Astro across the room, and the suits all stood up in horror, but he quickly scrambled to his feet, obviously unharmed.

"As you can see," said the general, returning the pistol to his briefcase, "he cannot be hurt by conventional weapons."

"That's not quite true, sir," said Astro, laying the spent bullet on the table. "That hurt a lot; it just didn't do any damage."

Devan winced slightly. "I stand corrected, but this is my point: he is hard to kill."

"Point taken," said the first suit. "Astro, this would not be a combat mission. What we are looking for is what is colloquially referred to as a spy: we need you to locate and infiltrate the Mellanine headquarters in Al-ferq'a, the capital of Suenisia in northern Africa. Once there, you would be expected to dig up whatever information you can find on the organization and feed it back to us."

"Sounds simple enough," Astro said as he returned to his chair.

"Are you willing to take this on?"

"Sure. When do you want me to start?"

"General Devan will brief you on the intelligence that we've already obtained, and provide you with such necessities as local clothing and whatever else you may need to appear native. Any other questions?"

"You got any?" Astro linked to Luna.

"Nope," she replied. "Seems pretty straight-forward to me."

"No sir," he answered the suit.

"Good. General Devan: he's all yours."

* * *

><p>"Sorry about the bullet to the chest," said Devan as they strolled down one of the long corridors in the labyrinthine building. "I needed to make the point in a hurry."<p>

"No problem, sir."

"Now, how hard would it be to colour your skin?"

Astro grinned and turned a bright purple. "What colour would you like?"

The general stared for a moment. "Um, yeah. A dark Mediterranean skin tone would be fine. Is your hair black."

"Yes, sir," he said as he reset his skin colour.

"Good." He stopped and carded a door open. "In here please."

The room had the bright sterile look of a laboratory, and several people in white coats turned to see who had entered.

"People," said General Devan. "This is Astro Tenma. He's an android, and he will be leaving soon on a mission for us to Al-ferq'a. Please get him ready."

An hour later, he was dressed for Northern Africa in light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes, his skin was the right colour, and they'd spent a little time working on his hair to get those two licks to lie down.

"I wish we could do something about his facial structure," said Emmy, one of the female staff. "It looks too round for a Suenisian."

"I wonder," linked Luna. "See if you can command changes in your skin."

"Sure," he replied, then said to Emmy, "Do you have some pictures of Suenisian kids I could use for reference?"

"Just a moment," she said, and pulled out her computer. A display appeared in front of him with a selection of dark faces. "See anything you like?"

He tried some commands as he watched himself in the mirror, and finally found something that worked.

"Cool," linked Luna. "I wouldn't recognize you if I met you in the street."

"This okay?" he said to Emmy.

She gasped, then said, "That is absolutely perfect!" She spun him around to face the general and said, "He's ready, sir."

General Devan studied him for a moment, then said, "Better than I'd hoped. Thank you, everyone." He headed to the door. "Come on, Astro—or should I say, Berq'an? Time for your briefing."

* * *

><p>"Where'd you get the name Berq'an from?" Astro asked as they sat down in an office ten floors up in the CDA building.<p>

"It means 'little star' in Suenisian," General Devan said with a smile.

Astro laughed. "Astro, in other words."

"Exactly. Now, I've got a fair bit of information to give to you. How would you like to get it?"

"Wireless upload is easiest for me."

"Alright." He made several entries on his computer, then pressed the corner of its screen.

Astro felt the access, and directed the data to its own folder for later compiling.

"Most of this is simply local knowledge to help you get around the city," said Devan. "Maps of various sorts, language files I pulled from robots in the region, things a boy of your apparent age would be expected to know, and so on."

"Hmm," said Astro, scanning the files. "No reviews of mannerisms."

"Pardon me?"

"I've studied human behaviour so I can blend into a crowd of people: you know, scratching my head or running my fingers through my hair when I'm supposed to be thinking, stretching when bored, that kind of stuff. I expect those people would probably have some of their own."

"Oh, I see. I must admit that I never thought of that. As a human myself, I suppose I take it for granted. I'm confident that you'll figure out for yourself what you need quite quickly once you're there."

"Sure. Do you have any videos of people actually speaking Suenisian? I want to get the accent right, and see how they move when they talk."

Devan quickly consulted his computer. "I think so. Let's see. ... I'll contact Emmy and see if she knows." After a couple of moments, he said, "Ah, there we go. You can watch them here." He called up a screen.

* * *

><p>The CDA provided Astro with special diplomatic documentation so that his robotic nature wouldn't be an issue with the various airport security agencies along the way. A week later, as part of his cover, he took a flight with an operative who was to play Azera, his supposed father while they were in Suenisia. They landed in London, then caught a plane to Rome. The final leg of the journey took them to Al-ferq'a. To pass the time, he and Luna joined Ran-tan and Evan-sa for a couple of Beethoven's symphonies over the link whenever Luna wasn't busy.<p>

As the plane finally taxied toward the Al-ferq'a airport terminal, Luna linked, "Fifteen thousand kilometres, and our link doesn't even have any static."

"Yeah," Astro responded. "How far does it go?" Suddenly he got a brainwave. "Luna! Here's General Devan's contact info. I want you to set it up so you can be there with him when I track down this Mellanine place so that he'll see right away through our link whatever I find." Just in case something goes wrong ...

"Got it," she replied. It won't go wrong.

* * *

><p>"Come, Berq'an," said Azera as they stood together outside their hotel in the intense summer heat. "We will visit the bazaar now, and I will see if my <em>friends<em> have learned anything of these _strangers_."

"Yes, Father," Astro answered in the somewhat formal Suenisian. "And I myself will search for any sign of them as we go along."

"Would they leave any sign, do you think?"

"They shouldn't if they are clever. I can only hope that they are not."

Azera sighed. "Yes, this will indeed be difficult."

While Azera chatted a few minutes later with one of his contacts who ostensibly sold hand-woven carpets, Astro browsed a display of jewelry, and found that the Ouroboros was a common image here, especially in bracelets: it wouldn't serve as a very useful clue. The goat's head was another matter: there wasn't one in the entire collection.

What could he do?

The idea of radio scanning came in the subtext over the link, and he rolled his eyes. He'd been so busy with the symbol, he'd overlooked the obvious.

"Ah, Father," Astro said when Azera joined him shortly after. "I have good news."

"Indeed, my son? Come, let us sit by the fountain, and you can tell me about it." He led the way to a pretty multi-level stone structure where clear water splashed loudly into a small pool in the base.

Astro lowered his voice so that it would be just audible to Azera and said, "I am getting a radio signal from over to the northwest that I would think is highly irregular in a country with such a simple lifestyle."

He nodded. "Such a thing has been noted by previous operatives, usually a short time before they died."

"These Mellanine guys probably saw them coming," Luna linked. "Their own spies must be pretty good."

"For sure," Astro replied. "But I wonder if they're expecting someone my age."

"Just don't make any assumptions."

"I hear you."


	11. Chapter 11: Into the Snake Pit

At two in the afternoon, after Astro had awakened from his usual sleep (he had decided that being awake at night might be useful, rather than adjust to local time), Azera drove him to a point just outside of the financial district, and they started to walk as if they had a definite destination in mind, while Astro scanned for the signal he had detected earlier. He found it easily, then was able to localize it to an impressive and very modern-looking office tower that stretched high into the sky, looming over the other older buildings in the area. Above its main entrance, glowing blue letters embedded in the stone facade read, 'Imperator, Inc.'

"That's the one," he said casually to his companion without appearing to pay any attention to the building, playing it cool, acting as if he saw this place every day.

"I'll see what I can find out about that corporation for you," Luna linked.

"Thanks, but aren't you supposed to be sleeping now?" Astro replied.

"You are too, you know."

"Hm. I got up half an hour ago, so it's okay. Azera's pretty jet-lagged though."

"I believe it. I'll report to you as soon as I can."

"No problem." He turned to Azera and said, "My contact is going to see if she can discover any information about Imperator."

Azera glanced at him, startled. "How did you get in touch with her, and when?"

"I am robotic—I have my ways; and I was talking to her in the last minute."

The man nodded. "This should be interesting."

A little later, as the two of them were heading back to the car, Luna linked, "I've found plenty."

"I'm listening," Astro replied.

"It's a huge conglomerate worth more money than many whole countries, and it's got its hand in companies all over the world."

"Did you find anything to connect it with the Mellanines?"

"Only a name: one of the members on the board of directors is Dr. Cedillo Mella, but it's a real stretch to say he's got anything to do with them."

"Sure. Thanks." Astro frowned. But humans had died checking this place out. He had to find out more about that signal.

* * *

><p>Azera snored softly in his bed across the darkened hotel room from where Astro sat.<p>

"There's something bothering me about Danilo Provinio," linked Luna. "How was it he got caught?"

"The police captain said he had an uncharacteristic weakness for women, and they were able to flush him out of hiding because of it."

"I'm probably wrong, but that seems too easy. All the evidence I've been able to find says these guys are experts at staying out of sight. I think you should act like you've been set up, just in case."

"You mean they deliberately let him get found out?"

"Yup. He could have been a problem for them, and this would allow them to see what the opposition's like, for whatever reason."

"And they got us."

"And they got ... us. That's right; we're a team. Have you had a chance to check out all those files he had on his computer?"

"Yeah. The only one I don't get gives a whole lot of numbers and words like 'widdershins', 'diesel', 'ascend', and 'descend'."

Luna didn't respond for a minute—subtext: busy signal—then said, "They're all directions: go clockwise, or left, then right, and of course up, down."

"That all makes sense, except for: where? What's the starting point?"

"Check all the other files over again, looking for clues or hints. We can only hope he entered it somewhere there."

"Sounds good," linked Astro. "When the city's totally quiet, I'm going to take a closer look at the Imperator."

* * *

><p>At four thirty in the morning, Astro left the hotel and ran full speed to the Imperator building. Its base was unexpectedly round, rather than square or rectangular, so he sneaked carefully around it, scanning with his super-vision.<p>

On the second tour around, he was able to determine that there were mathematical sequences to the stonework and windows, and they all had their starting points at one spot. "I can't see anything unusual about this block," he linked as he peered at it. "It's just a block."

"Hmm. Wait! What's the first command on your directions list?"

"Widdershins two four five."

"Um, yeah. Try going left, using that block as zero, and see what you can work out with the numbers."

"I get where you're going."

He backed up and sat down on a low stone wall a short distance from the zero block. After a little processing, he saw that if he counted two blocks, then five windows, then five blocks, he ended up at a door.

"Bingo," Luna linked.

"It's locked," he replied after checking it.

"Naturally. What kind of lock is it?"

"Hold it." He started to press the number pads. "Thirty-two, okay, one forty-nine, okay, seven sixty-five, okay."

'Click'

"The spread-sheet," she linked. "I thought it was for something like petty cash receipts."

"How handy. Your suspicions of a setup are beginning to sound really good to me."

"Yeah. Are you going to go in?"

He cracked the door open, then shut it to reset the lock. "Nope—not enough time. I'll come back this evening so I have the whole night. That sheet of directions is seriously long."

"Okay."

As he walked back to the hotel, he spotted a boarded-up building that had a familiar look to it on a side street. Peering in a broken window, he saw images painted on the front wall, and rows of benches, like in an auditorium.

"It's a church," linked Luna. "I recognize that picture of God from when he was a man."

"Why's it closed up?"

After a moment, she came back, "You'll have to check over there. There's no info about it on our web here."

A check of Suenisian news service archives turned up three-year-old reports of religious riots blamed on the people who ran the country's churches. As a result, the ruler of the country had shut them down and imprisoned many of the leadership. A couple of them had even been executed.

* * *

><p>"What have you been able to determine about the signal from the Imperator tower?" Azera asked in Suenisian after he'd had breakfast and returned to their room.<p>

"It is a great quantity of numbers and letters in a code I cannot break," Astro replied.

"Then show some of them to me. Perhaps my field experience would serve us well."

"Very well. Activate your computer display, and I will show them to you on that."

Azera watched the stream of characters for a couple of moments, then shrugged and said, "It is simplicity itself: These are records of financial transactions, nothing more—information such a company would normally communicate to its subsidiaries."

"Could there be any coded information within the data?"

"That would be impossible to determine without a powerful computer at hand."

Astro turned to Azera. "I am such a computer. Teach me."

Once he was sure he understood what the operative was trying to tell him, he went to bed, ready to work on the problem that afternoon.

* * *

><p>"So the master chain's two hundred and thirty-five entries long," Luna linked that afternoon, after they had been at it for a couple of hours.<p>

"Yup," Astro replied. "And each chain has one variation in it."

"Uh-huh. And there are fifty-two variations."

"Which, if we assume ten digits, requires an alphabet of forty-two letters: Suenisian. Let me check some documents for a rough letter frequency."

"Okay," she linked. "I'll see if I can figure out which are numbers, if any."

By the time Azera was done dinner, they had worked out a message. "What have you determined?" he asked when he got back in the room.

Astro pointed to the computer display screen. "Please read it for yourself. Perhaps you can make sense of it."

It read: 'The messenger has arrived. Once he has the message, prepare to cast aside the unholy ones. Mella will be in the ascendancy in 35 days."

Azera read it over several times, then said, "It is too cryptic. For instance, who is this messenger, and who are the unholy ones? It would appear that whoever is receiving this communication already knows these things, so that they do not need to be named further."

"There is that name, Mella," Astro said. "If it is not that board director, who or what is it?"

"I think I know someone who may be able to answer some of our questions," said Azera, standing up. "I will return soon."

Once he had left, Astro linked, "You'd better get that message to General Devan right away. Maybe his people can figure it out."

"I'll take it to him," she replied. "He also wants me to be with him to tell him what's happening when you enter that tower tonight."

"Get him to set up a wireless connection for you so you can feed the info right into his computer."

"Alright."

* * *

><p>Astro stared along the corridor of the fortieth floor. It was already one in the morning, and he still had half the directions to complete.<p>

Azera had come back just before sunset to report that his contact, an elder in the local religion, had told him that Mella was supposed to be a god or someone acting for their god—the Suenisian word wasn't clear—who would come and set all things right, and inaugurate a new age of peace in the world. Whatever.

The directions were apparently taking him on the only path through the building that didn't have some kind of security device every metre, so he had to be careful not to take a step too far. It was a maze. Why would they construct such a thing in a building that was supposed to be the hub of a financial empire? It made no sense.

Unless they somehow knew ahead of time that such a trap was going to be needed ... He gave his head a shake and checked the directions.

* * *

><p>It was three twenty, and Astro was back down on the fifteenth floor, almost out of directions. "One, two, one," he counted, and found himself in front of a rather plain door. He quickly entered the supplied entry code, and the door slid open. The room inside was dark, so he turned on his super-vision and went in.<p>

Suddenly the door zipped shut and the lights came on.

"Welcome, my messenger," came a man's voice to his left.


	12. Chapter 12: Trapped in the Pit

Astro spun towards the voice, and found himself facing the full-sized three-dimensional projection of a tall slender man with silver-streaked hair and deep hypnotic eyes. He was dressed in a plain black suit.

"Who are you, sir, to be calling me your anything?" Astro asked sharply in Suenisian.

"All in good time," the man said with a dismissive wave. "I must congratulate you on the completion of my little puzzle. I suppose that being a robot was of immense assistance to you. No human ever came close to solving it."

"You indeed set me up. Already I do not like you."

The man laughed. "A robot with fight. Excellent! But what you may think of me is of no consequence in the end, for I intend to make myself your master. Then you will accomplish my will regardless."

"Over my dead body!" Luna growled over the link.

"You may begin, gentlemen," the man said, and two other men, in white lab coats, appeared from the opposite side of the room.

"Yes, Holy One," said the plumper of the two with a bow. Then he said to the other man, "Please trigger the stasis field, Safi."

"Yes, Dr. Pendrada."

Astro felt a sharp tingle over his whole body, and when he tried to move, he could only do so very slowly and with a great effort. "This isn't good," he linked to Luna.

"No duh! I'm calling Dr. Elefun and see if he can tell me anything about this."

Astro couldn't use his mouth, so he tried a transmission to a nearby computer. "What is the message you are intending to have me deliver?" he asked finally, causing the three men to spin around to the source of the voice.

"Hm, that is very clever," said the projected man, turning back to Astro. "Very clever. You are an amazing machine. I salute your builder. As to my message, it is that I, Dr. Cedillo Mella, sent one and possessor of the spirit of the great god, have come to bring peace to the world, and deliverance from all who would steal human freedom."

"And do you intend to take over the world to do that?"

"Intend?" He shook his head and smiled knowingly. "Not at all. I _already_ possess the world—not by war and the spilling of people's blood, but peacefully, by financial power and political reform." He spread his arms. "Those who own the largest companies in the world are all my willing disciples, and with their immense wealth they have been able to remove unbending regimes and put amenable ones in their places."

"I doubt that you have defeated Wesaimin yet."

Mella laughed, and it sounded more sinister this time. "My little robot—you see, Wesaimin was my first victory. The wealthy people there followed me willingly, even spreading my word through the media—my superstars! Those who opposed me we were able to put to sleep, as they allowed themselves to be distracted by the search for prosperity and comfort. It was no contest from the outset."

Astro groaned. _That_ was what Hamegg and Dr. Elefun had been so worried about from the beginning with Metro City, and he hadn't got it till now.

"We have merely been awaiting the right time to announce our victory," the man continued. "That time has come. Very shortly I will be sending you out to announce my arrival to the world."

"Why did you choose me?"

"There are those who have seen you as a type of saviour, especially after your seemingly miraculous defeat of Leader Orkan. With you under my control, the last hope of the unholy ones is shattered. Peace and freedom will be absolute."

"Absolute garbage," Astro said sarcastically.

Dr. Mella scowled. "Enough of this idle chatter!" he snapped. "Begin the reprogramming."

"Yes, Holy One." Dr. Pendrada stood over a panel while Safi peered at a computer display.

"All is ready, Doctor," Safi said after a moment.

"What?" linked Luna. "Reprogram? Ahhh, what do I do, Astro?"

"User request: emergency processor shutdown, complete," he replied, and promptly powered down.

* * *

><p>"Astro!" Luna linked frantically in General Devan's office back in Gattshier. "Oh no. He's gone sir," she said hesitantly to Devan and slumped in her chair. "Now I don't know what I can do."<p>

"Gone? What's that supposed to mean?"

"He shut down his processor. He's not running any more."

"Why would he do that?" the general asked.

"As you heard, they were going to reprogram him. It's the only way we know to protect our computers."

General Devan frowned. "So he can no longer do anything to save himself, isn't that right?"

"... Right."

He slammed his fist onto his desk and swore, then began to pace. After a minute, he stopped and turned to Luna. "Who is his master?"

"Me. Why?"

"Can you override his actions, or does that require his administrator?"

She felt like a little child in the face of this disaster. "I don't know. I've never had to use my authority with him before."

"Do you know who his admin is?"

She nodded. "Dr. Tenma. He programmed us."

"Excellent." The general whipped out his phone. "Lieutenant! Head over to Robovale pronto and fetch Dr. Tenma for me!"

* * *

><p>"He did what?" said Dr. Mella.<p>

"He shut down, Holy One," answered Dr. Pendrada. "We cannot communicate with a dead computer."

"Well, reactivate him!"

"I do not know how he is built or programmed, and you already understand how sophisticated a machine he must be. To intervene incautiously could be extremely hazardous to our plan."

"Very well. Proceed as you think best, and if his status changes, contact me immediately."

"Yes, Holy One." The two of them bowed deeply as Dr. Mella flickered out.

* * *

><p>Luna sat dejectedly as General Devan got Dr. Tenma up to speed on the situation. At one point, she idly tried the link.<p>

"Luna?"

"Astro! But how did you turn yourself back on?"

"Um, I don't understand what's going on, but I'm not on."

She quickly interrupted Dr. Tenma and the general, and repeated her conversation with Astro.

"I don't even pretend to understand your link," said Tenma when she was finished. "But if his soul is in the core, then perhaps that's the level he's working at."

"That makes sense," linked Astro.

"But why couldn't you link like this with Orkan when he was a blue core?" Luna asked. "Why doesn't he remember what he used to be?"

"I don't know, but maybe it was because I had to modify his core so much."

Dr. Tenma leaned forward eagerly. "I've got a theory, and I'd like to test it."

"Sure Dad," Astro replied through Luna. "What is it?"

"Luna," he said, "see if you can command him to do something."

"Huh?" she said. "With his computer off-line?"

"Try to use your link to operate Astro's other systems like a puppet."

"Oh I get it. I'll try."

"No," linked Astro after a minute. "I think you're trying too hard. Um, think of me as one of your arms or something."

"Okay." She moved one of her own fingers a little bit.

"That's it!" Astro linked excitedly. "Now disable your motor functions so you can run me without you moving. I think we've got a way out of here!"

"Alright," she linked.

"But we better wait until these two aren't paying attention before we try anything. And remember, you're my eyes and ears too."

* * *

><p>"How are you thinking of getting out of there?" Luna linked a while later.<p>

"I remember there's a window not far from where I'm standing. When we're ready, I want you to turn my computer back on, jump me out of that window, then give me a soft landing. By that time my computer will be back on line."

"You want me to fly?" Luna whimpered.

"Um, yeah. Sorry."

"And I don't have rockets, or the ... other stuff. How can I control you?"

"Oh, right." Astro then said through Luna, "Dad, can you give Luna the programming for my rockets?"

"I'll have to get Elefun to send me the backup files," replied Tenma. "It shouldn't be a problem, but why is it necessary? Can't you leave the way you came?"

"That's way too slow; they'll just catch me again. If we're going to spring me out of here, I've got to fly."

"Ah, yes. I'll get right on it, Son."

* * *

><p>"He's already won the war," muttered General Devan, drumming his fingers on his desk, as Tenma began the upload to Luna. "How? And he claims to already be ruling Wesaimin. How could we have missed it?"<p>

"He hid it in full view," Astro said through Luna. "It was there for all you humans to see, but you were more interested in the latest computerized gimmick, most exotic art work, or the snappiest lottery. But don't feel too bad; even us androids didn't see it, and we don't even care about that kind of stuff."

"That's not very consoling," said Devan, who leaned back in his chair. "Tell me, Astro: What's he after?"

"Divinity, I think. Adversary once offered us androids the chance to be rulers of the world, and we turned him down flat. If Mella's linked up with Adversary, then he's bought into that offer, and here he is now, playing god, with all the power and wealth and glory that supposedly goes with it. And all his followers are collecting the rewards of their faithfulness to him."

"What of everyone else?"

"They're just pawns in his game, except for the people who follow the real God; he hates them because they won't—_we_ won't—play the game."

"How do you even know there's a God out there?"

"He's talked to some of us androids a few times, and Adversary's even terrified of him; Luna and I could feel it."

"Are you sure it was God?" General Devan asked. "Couldn't there be another explanation for your experiences?"

"Let's just say that when you meet God, there's no doubt. I can't explain it any better than that?"

"So it's your concept of God versus Mella's."

"No, it's no contest. You know Mella's version stinks: he's killed people; he doesn't know everything; he's just a human. What kind of god would need to manipulate all the world leadership to proclaim him president of the world? What kind of god would even care? I mean, when the real God came to Earth as a man, he had nothing to do with riches and fame and all that. He just got down to business and was what he was, not caring what people thought of him. He never even tried to rule the world, at least not like Mella's doing."

"'The real God'." Devan chuckled ironically. "You say that so confidently. How do you _know_?"

Luna sat silently for a minute, then Astro said, "I trust him, that's all. I don't trust Mella with my phone number."

"But there are so few who believe in your God, and the world's gone after Mella. You're saying you're right just because?"

"Listen, General; just watch. If Mella is God, then everything will settle down and everyone will be happy, because he's promising to give them what they think they want. If he isn't God, it's going to kill them, just like in Metro City."

Tenma stood up and stretched. "Interesting comparison, Son." He patted Luna on the shoulder. "All done. You can fly now."

"Ha ha," said Luna grimly. "Very funny."

* * *

><p>"Okay," Luna linked to Astro a couple of hours later. "Dr. Pendrada's gone out to get something to eat, and Safi's doing some research into your power system—on the other side of the room, it sounds like ."<p>

"This is so weird," Astro replied. "The only way I know what's going on here is through our link."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I've got it all under control. Now, blue energy, like Dr. Elefun told me." She felt his hands light up, then there was a flash and surge in the stasis field. It started to collapse, and an alarm went off. "Oh crap," she muttered. "Okay, forget stealth mode!" After commanding Astro's computer to power on, she glanced around for the window.

Just as Safi dashed over to see what was going on, Astro suddenly ran, did a hand spring off of the table, and dove feet first through the window.

"Ack!" Luna squeaked as they tumbled high over the street below. "I can't stabilize!"


	13. Chapter 13: Battle is Joined

As Astro, with Luna at the controls, plummeted to the ground below, he discovered that flying was about way more than programming. He meant to simply help her, but in the panic his link suddenly looped back, and he was controlling her as she struggled to control his body. He stopped the tumbling, and they landed softly.

"Wow," linked Luna. "How'd you do that?"

"No clue," he replied. "It just happened. Okay, my processor's on line again." He did a link hug. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Let's not do that again soon."

"No kidding; not if I can help it."

"And don't you forget this: Nobody's going to steal you from me."

Astro grinned. "Got it. Now, I'd better get back to Azera before he wakes up. I'm done here, and I really want to get back home."

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

><p>"How could you let him escape?" Mella's image asked Dr. Pendrada in a tone of barely restrained rage.<p>

"I do not know, Holy One." He wrung his hands anxiously. "He was apparently able to operate in some manner our equipment was unable to detect."

"He is a robot! He cannot do anything without his computer!"

"I know that very well, Holy One, but ... he did."

"And he was able unexpectedly to neutralize the stasis field as well," added Safi nervously. "It was when I heard the alarm that I looked up to see him leap off of this table and through the window to the street below."

"You clearly underestimated this robot very badly, Dr. Pendrada," said Mella grimly. "That is too bad." He reached over to something out of the field of view, and Pendrada gasped.

A blast filled the room with flames.

* * *

><p>"Yes sir," Astro said to General Devan in his office a couple of days later. "They knew I was coming. The message me and Luna decoded said, 'The messenger has arrived'; and Mella said, 'Welcome, my messenger,' when I went through that last door."<p>

"But how is that possible?" Devan asked. "That would imply that they have spies right here in the CDA."

"Yup. And Mella is the centre of the Mellanine mystery. He's their, uh, god-type person, like I told you—I wasn't able to get what Azera meant by that."

"I did a lot of research while you were on your way back from Suenisia, and there are some prophecies floating around some supposedly secret societies all over the world that there's a new world order coming, of 'freedom and love', which is to be led by ... well, somebody very much like Dr. Mella, who will teach everyone 'the way to God'. It all sounds pretty suspicious to me."

"Yeah. Mella reminded me a lot of Adversary, that God wannabee I fought on Mount Wildfield."

"Interestingly, when I broached the subject of Dr. Mella to my higher-ups, they ordered me to drop the case."

"What a surprise, right?"

"Right. So my hands are tied." Devan lowered his voice and leaned closer to Astro. "But if you're about to do some, shall we say, free-lance work, I don't know anything about it."

Astro nodded. "Sure. Thanks."

* * *

><p>"Who are the 'unholy ones' Mella was talking about?" Luna asked.<p>

Astro sat with his face against her back, his arms and legs wrapped around her, and their clothes lay safely in the cave nearby. They had returned to the ledge on Mount Wildfield for the night—they'd felt the need to be alone together.

"Well, if he's 'the holy one', then the 'unholy ones' must be everyone who doesn't believe that he's God, or God's prophet."

"In other words, people like us."

"Right."

"You're actually going to do what he wants you to do?"

"M-hm. If I announce his coming as a free android, it'll give hope to God's—the real God's—people, instead of destroying it, like Mella wants."

"Of course you're changing the message some."

"Oh yeah. I wouldn't want people to think I actually agreed with him."

"For sure."

They fell silent for a little while as Saturn set in the western night sky. Then Astro squeezed Luna hard as he realized the vast uncertainty of the task ahead of him.

"It is scary," she linked. "How do we fight Mella when it looks like the whole world is following after him?"

"I-I don't know, but God's people are in big trouble, more trouble than I've ever seen. I think that's what he meant when the message said, 'prepare to cast aside the unholy ones'. They don't know; they don't have a clue about the terrible danger they're in."

"Then that's where our best destiny lies."

"... Yeah."

* * *

><p>"What are you up to, Dad?" Orkan asked when he found Astro sitting quietly in a corner of Hamegg's back lot the next afternoon. But Astro didn't answer, so he linked.<p>

"He's studying the web," Luna linked back. "So he needs to concentrate. That's why he's off in this corner with his sensors all turned off."

"Is that safe?"

"I'm watching him."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Why is he studying it?"

"Come inside so we can talk. We might bother him if we stay here."

"Okay."

Once Orkan was inside where she was cleaning, Luna said to him, "He wants to announce the coming of Dr. Mella, but he needs to find a way around all of Mella's people. If he doesn't, they'll just stop him before he can say anything."

"They can do that?"

"Most everybody who's anybody is on Mella's side. They can do it."

"So we're seven androids against the world. I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but Astro and I have been there before. This isn't a new problem. In fact it was an important part of the fall of Metro City."

"... and me?"

"I don't know about Leader."

Suddenly Orkan saw a vast crowd in front of him, cheering for him. He blinked and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. I just saw something, like a memory, but I know I've never seen anything like it before."

Luna came over and extended a blue hand. "Show me." As she watched, she nodded, then linked, "It is a memory. Astro thought you'd lost all your Leader memories when he purged your core, but maybe not."

Orkan backed away, terrified, pointing at his core. "You mean he could still be in here?"

She smiled gently. "Son, as long as that's a scary thought for you, it's not a problem."

He looked back at her doubtfully. "How can you be so sure?"

"Memories don't make a 'droid; will does. If you continue to choose to be the Orkan I've come to love, that is what you will be. There is no Leader separate from you in there who could take you over if you weren't careful."

Orkan smiled tentatively. "Oh yeah. That's right."

Luna took him in her arms and held him close, and he began to cry.

* * *

><p>"You look pleased with yourself," Luna linked to Astro a couple of hours later as she cleared the pool table for supper while the children played around her. "Figure something out?"<p>

"Uh-huh." He grinned. "I was able to hack into the Imperator Corporation's computer system, and found files of the so-called unholy ones—they weren't even encrypted!"

"You sure it wasn't another trap?"

"They probably thought it was, but I was able to encrypt myself, so there's no way they could trace the hack back to me."

"You're hiding something."

"Yup. I left behind a little file to tell them I'd been there."

She tried to stifle a grin. "That's mean."

"I know, but how else can I say, 'You're not God'?" He wandered into the kitchen, and came back with a stack of plates.

"So now what?" she asked as he put the plates in place.

"Now nothing. I've already sent text messages to everyone listed in the files and told them what's coming. Hopefully if they're warned, they can at least do something."

She started towards the kitchen, then stopped. "Um, Astro? What about all the other people?"

"They're going to have to be God's problem, because they're way too much for us."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Orkan peeked in at the back door of Hamegg's place. Then he radioed, "Anybody here?"<p>

"Hi," responded Luna, and she appeared at the top of the stairs to the sleeping area. "I guess all the humans are out. What's up?"

He came in and closed the door. "I was looking for Dad. Do you know where he is?"

"He's on his way back from a delivery. If you want to wait, he'll be here in eight minutes or so."

"Okay, I'll be in the back lot."

"I'll tell him."

Orkan turned when he heard Astro land fifteen minutes later. "What kept you?" he asked with a half grin.

"Oh, you know, " Astro said casually as he came over. "Humans have got to chat a little. I guess they miss the link without knowing it."

"Hm." He gazed off at a neighbouring building. "Would you please link with me?"

"Sure. Why?"

"I need some ... guidance about ... lunas, I guess."

Astro grinned and gave Orkan his blue hand. "Worried about Ran-tan and Evan-sa's little one?" he linked.

"Yeah, kind of, you know. I ..." Suddenly he glimpsed Astro's memory of the trip to Suenisia. "That's how you escaped?"

"Huh? Oh, that. Yup."

"And then you hacked into their computer system and stole the files for the 'unholy ones'."

"Yeah; I didn't know how else I could figure out who to contact."

"You told him you did it." Abruptly, another memory appeared, this time Orkan's own, of Leader glaring at the picture of an enemy on his wall, then flinging a knife at it in a rage. Orkan flinched as the implication of that sunk in. "Dad! You gotta get outta here! Mella'll be out to get back at you! That's what Leader would have done."

"How do you know that?"

Orkan backed up a step, clutching his hands together nervously. "I'm remembering. It's coming back."

"Oh yeah? So how's he going to hurt me?"

"Don't you get it? Think Adversary, Dad! He'll hurt you by hurting the humans around you!"

Suddenly an explosion tore Hamegg's building apart.


	14. Chapter 14: Things Fall Down

"Luna!" Astro linked as the debris from the explosion settled on the ground.

"I'm okay," she responded, quickly pushing her way out of the mess and dusting off her clothes. "It's sure a good thing it happened when everybody was out. What was it?"

"It looks like maybe Mella's after me. I think it was a bomb."

"Oh great. I guess I'll phone Hamegg and let him know about his building. What'll we do about the kids?"

"Thank God it didn't happen when they were around. I guess we better let Hamegg deal with it. His connections are probably a lot better than ours." Astro turned back to Orkan shamefacedly. "I guess I'm too naive to be very good at this kind of fight. I thought I was being cute by leaving that message. Instead I was incredibly stupid."

Orkan stared at the ground. "I'm sorry I yelled, Dad," he said softly. "But Leader terrifies me."

"I know, but your, um, memory of evil could be real useful if you let it."

"Huh? How?"

"Like just now: you understood how Dr. Mella would think. If we're going to fight against him, we need that kind of understanding."

Orkan nodded. "I-I'll try, but it's like swimming in a sewage treatment pond. I hate it."

"Hamegg's on his way," Luna said as she walked over to them. "I've also called Emergency Services, so this place is going to be crawling with police and firefighters in a couple of minutes."

"Good," said Astro.

"Maybe they'll find a clue about the cause of the blast," said Orkan.

"You don't think it was Mella?"

"It's possible," said Luna. "This could have been an accident."

Astro slumped. "Oh man. There I go, jumping to conclusions. I _am_ naive." He looked at Orkan. "And I'm scared too. What if I make a mistake and it kills someone? I've done it before."

Orkan gave him an understanding nod.

* * *

><p>Hamegg came over to where Astro, Luna and Orkan were watching everyone dealing with the aftermath of the explosion. He looked very troubled, and was carrying the head of a robot. "Astro," he said, "the fire investigator over there says that the blast occurred on the sidewalk right at the doorway."<p>

"A bomb?" Astro asked.

Hamegg nodded. "Most likely." Turning the head around to face them, he said, "It was probably carried by the robot that used to own this head, because the police found it a little ways down the street, and I don't recognize it. Now I know I've got enemies, but I never thought they'd resort to anything as low as this. My goodness, what if the children had been home?"

"Let me see that," said Astro, and he took the head in his hands.

Instantly, the eyes lit up, and Mella's head appeared, projected above it. "My greetings to you, Berq'an," he said in Suenisian. "How do you say it in your language?" Then he said in a thickly-accented Wesaiminish, "Tag, you are it."

Orkan lunged forward and smacked the head high into the air and away, where it exploded harmlessly.

Everyone stared at the puff of smoke, then ducked as the bits and pieces began to rain down on them. Several police officers ran over to see what had happened.

"What do you know, Astro," said Luna, straightening up. "You were right."

Astro dusted some junk from his hair, frowned, and said, "You know, that creep was mocking me." Then he looked at Orkan. "You saved Hamegg. That second bomb was the sort of trick Leader would have pulled, wasn't it?"

Orkan nodded grimly, then asked, "Could you come and see me at my place this evening? I need to talk about something."

"Sure."

* * *

><p>"What's up?" Astro asked as he settled himself cross-legged on the dirt floor of Orkan's single-roomed hut.<p>

"You and I are both scared, right?"

"Yeah."

"I figure we shouldn't be if we're living our best destinies. After all, I'm remembering Leader just when we need the information."

"You're right. God's been giving us the tools we needed every time so we could do what had to be done."

"Including stuff we didn't even know about," linked Luna from Dr. Tenma's house, where she and Astro were now staying. "Like what happened to you and me in Al-ferq'a." Astro fed the comment through his own mouth so Orkan could hear.

"Now, did you want to talk about anything else?" Astro then asked him.

"Yes sir: the casting aside of the 'unholy ones'. You've already sent out a warning. I think we need to be ready to help them with more."

"Like how?"

"I haven't got a clue." He gave a shrug. "We'll have to trust God for that."

"I had to ask. I guess the best way to start would be for me to go talk with Ran-tan, Evan-sa, Zog, and Dragon, and get them up to speed. Then we wait."

Orkan drew a squiggle on the floor. "There's another thing bugging me, Dad. If I'm like this now, do you think I should marry Ran-tan and Evan-sa's kid?"

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Because, when we link ... when we link, it'll see Leader." He wiped out the squiggle. "I haven't linked with it since this stuff started."

Astro thought for a moment, then said, "And what about when it sees Dr. Mella? Are you going to protect it from him too?"

"You know that's different. I was Leader after all, and if Baby's a luna, she'll be marrying me. She won't do that with Mella."

"True, but you aren't Leader now; you're my adopted son Orkan."

Orkan went to say something, then stopped and scowled. "That's basically what Mom said. Okay, forget I said anything. Thanks, Dad."

"Astro," linked Luna. "What about Hamegg's place? Is there anything we can do about it?"

* * *

><p>Astro stood beside Hamegg the next morning with his hands on his hips and staring at the exposed foundation of what had been Hamegg's building. "This place was really cheaply built," he said. "It came down like a house of cards."<p>

"I suppose that's why I got it at such a good price back then," said Hamegg ruefully, and he nudged a piece of sheet metal with his foot. "What do you propose we do about it."

"I'm going to see if us androids can rebuild it. I remember where we took the junk from that old theatre me and Luna demolished back after Metro City fell, and maybe there's still other stuff there we could salvage for you."

"How long do you think that will take? I have the children and Zane to think about, not to mention my business."

"I know. I'll get right on it." Astro switched to radio and called, "Hey everybody. Meet me at Hamegg's lot right away. We've got work to do."

A few minutes later, he and Luna faced the other five androids. "I want you all to search Robovale for demolition and construction sites, and study what they're doing," he said. "Then come back, and we'll use your new knowledge and any material you find to put this building back up." He pointed at the pile of debris from the blast. "Me and Luna will see what info's on the web while you're away, and look through this mess to see if we can salvage anything here."

"Cool," said Zog. "Sounds like fun. Let's go." They were gone in a couple of moments.

* * *

><p>Astro and Luna ended up spending the day digging out from the debris whatever they could find that would be useful, like bedding and clothing—since the fire caused by the bomb had been small, and was extinguished quickly—as well as Hamegg's and Zane's tools and manuals.<p>

That evening, everybody took a look at what they'd found.

"Whoa! That's pretty good," said Zane as he admired the size of the pile.

"Yeah," said Ran-tan. "They were tearing down an old factory in the north industrial park, and they were happy to let us take whatever we wanted."

"So we took everything," said Evan-sa. "I guess we'll have to toss whatever we don't need later."

"What do you think?" said Hamegg. "Should we build it the same way as it was before?"

"I wanted to talk to you about that," said Zane. "Me and Jerry think it'd be way safer for the kids if we build the shop separately, like where your building used to be. And since we've got all this," he indicated the pile, "we could put up a place for everybody to live in in the back lot."

Ran-tan pulled out a small computer-screen projector and, connecting himself to it by radio, spread out an overhead view of the lot. "Let's see," he said. "The shop goes here ..." He waved his hand over the spot, and a grey block appeared. "The, um, dormitory would go ... here?" A larger block appeared in a back corner.

An enthusiastic discussion took off from there as decisions were made and building regulations consulted.

"Let's leave that stuff to them," said Zog to Orkan after they had watched for a while.

"Yeah," said Orkan. "They'll do fine without us." He led the way to a pile of girders, where he, Zog, Dragon, and Evan-sa with three-week-old Baby, all sat down to wait for developments.

"How you making out with Leader?" Zog asked Orkan. "You're not so depressed any more, so you must be doing okay."

"That's right; I am," said Orkan, nodding. "I think I've remembered everything now." He shuddered. "Some of it's pretty gross."

"No doubt," said Evan-sa. "From what little I've heard, he was a nasty piece of work."

"What's really incredible is that he had no interest in helping anybody else; he was in it for himself completely—the power, the wealth, the honour, the killing. I've got the memories, and I find it hard to believe that he could really have been that ... bad."

"I can't even imagine such an attitude," said Evan-sa. "I'd link to you to find out, but that's just something I don't want to get into." She called to Ran-tan, "Where's that rock you brought? Baby's hungry."

"I noticed," he replied, and pointed towards the exit to the street. "Over there."

"Thanks," she linked, and strolled over to the spot, carrying Baby. Abruptly a car pulled up beside her, and a dark-skinned man in a nice suit stepped out.

"Excuse me, young lady," he said to her. "Does Astro Tenma live around here?"

She pointed over towards the huddle in the centre of the lot. "Yeah. He's over there." She then radioed, "Hey Astro: someone here to see you."

"Thank you," said the man, and he strode over as Astro separated himself from the group.

"Joseph!" Astro said and ran over to him. "Long time, no see! What brings you here?"

Joseph's solemn expression grew grave. "Your warning came just in time to allow me to get away before the government moved in."

"Moved in? What do you mean?"

"They closed our churches, arrested our church leadership, even blamed us God-fearing folk for what Leader Orkan did."


	15. Chapter 15: The Challenge Deepens

"How could anybody blame church people for what Leader did?" Astro exclaimed.

That got everyone's attention, and all the androids gathered around Astro and Joseph.

Joseph glanced around, then nodded at Luna. "Hello, Luna. It's nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too, sir," she replied.

"And who are all your friends?" he asked Astro.

"Everybody, this is Joseph, a friend of mine from Creekhollow in Foredan." They smiled at Joseph, and Astro went on, "Well, um, sir, this is my son Ran-tan, and his wife Evan-sa, and their baby."

"Son? Wife?" He stared at the doll-like three-week-old infant in Evan-sa's arms. "Baby?"

"Yeah; we androids can reproduce."

"You ... don't say. Who could have imagined such a thing?"

"And this is Zog, and Dragon, who are Evan-sa's parents. And this is Orkan."

Joseph frowned. "How could you possibly have called him by such a name?"

"Because that's my name," said Orkan softly. "Dad, uh, Astro took Leader's core, purified it, and he and Luna raised it—me—as their own child."

"My word! And do you remember being the Leader?"

Orkan turned away. "Sure, but I wish I didn't."

"Anyway," said Astro. "I know you didn't come here to meet my family. I'll call Dad and see if he can put you up tonight. Then we can talk."

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that."

* * *

><p>Joseph sat glumly on the couch in Dr. Tenma's livingroom, nursing a mug of tea, while Tenma sat in the easy chair, and the androids sat around on the floor.<p>

"It all started," said Joseph to Astro, "after you defeated Leader Orkan. At first the alliance of the Resistance and the people from the rest of Foredan made some progress in re-establishing peace, but they were quickly pushed aside by a powerful group of financial heavyweights who had profited by Orkan's warmongering."

Orkan nodded. "I think I know who you mean. There were quite a few people who made a lot of money on weapon sales and other war preparations. I doubt they were happy to lose that business."

Frowning, Astro said, "That smells an awful lot like Mellanine." When Joseph gave him a puzzled glance, he filled him in.

"Yes," said Joseph when he'd finished, "that has the ring of truth to it, in spite of all the speculation you've been forced to do. Before this happened in Foredan, we had been hearing of churches in many other nations being forced to close or to submit to governmental control." He sighed. "And that submission was tantamount to turning their backs on God."

"That's scary," said Luna. "What's happening to those who don't submit?"

"They meet together in private homes or out in the countryside, but if they're caught, they're thrown in prison for such charges as corrupting the youth with their beliefs, or defying edicts that require everyone to accept whatever religion is on top in that country."

"Is there anything we androids can do to help?"

Joseph shook his head sadly. "I cannot imagine what you could do. Even with my people, they received your warning, but they had no idea what they could do or where they could go to escape. And there's only the seven of you against a world-wide movement."

"I'm tired of hearing that," snapped Astro. "I know we can't help the world, so how can we help right here?"

"We hide them any way we can," said Orkan. "It's pretty obvious that Mella hates the God-fearing people, and he'll do anything to get them out of the way. Leader did the same thing to people who tried to stand up to him."

"Why does he hate them?" Dragon asked. "What did they do?"

"They push for what is right in God's teachings," said Joseph. "You see, everything that this movement—which Astro says is led by Dr. Mella—is pushing for will destroy the foundation of human life. In country after country where those who are seeking this new age are in power, the family is being destroyed. The few children that are permitted—they use the fear of overpopulation to enforce that—are practically raised by the state-run school systems, since they don't want parental thinking to deprive the children of their 'freedom' to do what they want. And even worse, parents are often paid so poorly that both of them are forced to work to make enough money even to pay the bills. And the small and family-run businesses that were the basis of democracy are being swallowed up by internationally-owned stores that control product distribution and pricing."

"Big money," said Astro, nodding. "Mella's disciples."

"But that's crazy!" said Dragon. "Why are they doing it?"

Joseph looked over at her wearily. "Money, child; prestige; power. It all boils down to the freedom to do whatever they want to any way they want to."

"Stupid," she spat. "For this they're throwing people in prison? Killing them?"

"They want them to act like robots," said Orkan knowingly. "Tools to be used, and, when they're not useful any more, thrown away—property, not people—and, if the people resist, they treat them like defective product."

"Yeah; the complete opposite of God," said Astro. "So of course they hate God because—as they see it—he wants to take away their oh-so-important 'rights' and 'freedoms' to get what they want, and anybody connected with God gets lumped in with him. That's what we're up against."

"And we're right back where we started," said Zog. "What do we do?"

"Orkan's got the idea," said Astro. "We hide God's people. And you know that whatever's happening in Foredan will be happening here real soon, so let's get Hamegg's buildings up as quick as possible, and then we can start looking for good hiding places out in the countryside."

"Wait a minute," said Tenma. "These people you're going to hide: what are they supposed to eat, and where will they stay? Let's face it, most of them won't be used to roughing it outdoors."

"Hmm," Astro responded. "Give me a minute to check something on-line." Then he said, "Well, we do know how to build, and I've just found some info on log cabins, so that's at least something. But I don't have a clue about feeding them. Any suggestions?"

"I'm way ahead of you," replied Orkan. "Since we're in it for the long haul, farming is going to be the only option, so we better hope we get some farmers among our refugees, because I can't find all of what we need to know on the web, and it looks like experience is a must for a lot of it."

"You're probably right," said Tenma. "Since tomorrow's Sunday, I'll be taking Dr. Elefun to church with me—and you too, if you wish," he said to Joseph.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you."

"We'll talk with the people there," he went on. "Then see who we can find to help."

"That'd be really great, Dad," said Astro. "Thanks a lot."

* * *

><p>"Well, that worked out well," Astro said two days later to Luna as they moved the final piece of wall into place for Hamegg's new workshop.<p>

"Yeah," said Luna. "Dad found us two people who knew farmers, and it looks like those farmers will be willing to put up a bunch of people."

"And there's people to help everybody who wants to get moved. We're even going to build the houses."

"Do you think the Mellanines will be watching for that kind of stuff?" she asked as Zog and Dragon fixed the wall section into place.

"Hmm, no doubt. There's plenty of satellites that can see to that resolution. I guess we'll have to do stuff like put those houses under trees, or cover their roofs with dirt and grass for camouflage."

"All done," said Dragon as she and Zog clambered down onto the ground again. "Let's get the first roof piece."

"Sure," said Astro, and he led the way to the stack of roofing material. Suddenly there was a loud crack, and he was thrown back violently into a pile of blocks with a sharp pain in his chest.

"Astro!" Luna linked.

"I'm okay," he replied as he jumped to his feet and computed where the shot must have come from. Then, scanning the buildings in that direction, he caught sight of a brief flash of reflected light. Blasting off, he shot toward the window at that location and crashed feet-first through the glass.

A man jumped back in surprise. He was still holding a large rifle with a scope mounted on top, and Astro immediately gave him the blue touch so he wouldn't cause any trouble before he was thoroughly checked over.

On his wrist was the tattoo of the goat's head in Ouroboros.

Astro examined the ammunition: armour-piercing bullets. This guy was definitely gunning for robot. He rubbed his chest; no wonder it hurt so much.

"I guess Dr. Mella's 'it' now," Luna linked.

"Right," he responded. "That gives me an idea."

He patted the man down and turned up a phone. Setting it to record, he said in Suenisian, "Well, Dr. Mella, it appears that the striker is now in your hands," referring to a Suenisian children's game similar to tag.

Slipping the phone back in its pocket, he stripped the man of weapons, then flew him out, placing him on a platform high above the ground on the old railway trellis. There was no easy way down from there.

He engaged his own phone and dialled a number.

"Emergency services," came the answer. "What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Astro," linked Luna when he was finished. "That's a really cute payback, but is he going to be alright? I mean, what if he comes to and thrashes about before he's rescued?"

"Thank you! I'll get some rope."

* * *

><p>A lieutenant entered Dr. Mella's office and bowed deeply towards Dr. Mella seated behind his large oak desk. "Holy One, we have received news of our assassin in Antemonain. He failed."<p>

"I see. Berq'an still lives, as I expected."

"And Berq'an recorded a message for you on the assassin's phone." A computer screen appeared at one side of the desk and played Astro's challenge.

"So he wishes to play the game, does he?" said Mella darkly. "That is very good, but my ascendancy approaches. Is the announcement in readiness?"

"Yes, Holy One."

"Do you have the snare with you so that I may examine it?"

"Yes, Holy One. At your command." The soldier backed out the door, returning a minute later. Bowing once more, he said, "Behold the Holy Berq'an."

The figure of Berq'an walked into the room and bowed silently.

Dr. Mella sat back and gave a smile of deep satisfaction. "You will serve me yet, robot boy."


	16. Chapter 16: Berq'an the Holy?

"They're gunning for you," Luna linked as she and Astro sat together on the railway trellis above Hamegg's new buildings as the sun set quietly in the clear evening sky.

"Yup."

"You're still going ahead with helping God's people?"

"Uh-huh. If I ran and hid, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"I know what you mean." She leaned against him. "It's our best destiny."

He put his arm around her. "And if they get me, it'll be at God's best time."

"I just hope it isn't soon."

"Me too. I can't bear to think of you having to get by without me."

"You've been there, though, totally alone."

"Not exactly. I didn't lose somebody; I was just the first."

"Yeah. It's less painful when you don't know what you're missing."

"Still painful."

She turned and gazed into his eyes for a moment, then hugged him close. "Don't you dare go."

He returned the hug and said, "I'm not about to volunteer, if that's what you're thinking."

* * *

><p>The man with the goat's-head-in-Ouroboros tattoo hidden on his wrist watched with satisfaction as the other two men—'No names please, so nobody can trace us.'—eased the coffin-sized crate onto a dusty table in an otherwise deserted warehouse in a corner of the industrial district of Sanpacho, the capital city of Antemonain. The Holy One was ready to make his move.<p>

The broad-shouldered man in the black leather jacket whistled. "This must be some special robot to ship it all the way from Suenisia to the world centre of robotic development," he said. "What did they fly it here for?"

"It's got to trap the most powerful robot on Earth, Astro Tenma," the Mellanine said. "The Holy One himself commanded it."

The third man turned and said, "What's so special about Astro? Isn't he just that kid robot that does parts deliveries?"

The Mellanine laughed. "'Kid robot'? I guess they must keep it pretty quiet, but he's single-handedly taken down armies. And it's not like he's got powerful weapons. They say he outsmarted Leader Orkan's best soldiers three times, then destroyed the Leader himself when he found out he was also a robot."

"No kidding?" The man shrugged and pointed at the crate. "So how's this thing supposed to defeat him?"

"That," said the Mellanine, "is a secret, but I'm going to have to monitor the robot's every move to make sure everything goes according to plan. The ascendancy of the Holy One depends on it."

The man in the jacket scowled as he reached for his pry bar, and said, "What's this ascendancy business anyway?"

"The Holy One has led a financial enterprise named Imperator for many years now, and through the diligent work of his disciples has gained economic and political control of the world. In two weeks, he will take his place as the true ruler of us all, bringing in a glorious age of peace and love."

"Pah! Like I care about such garbage! Just give me a job, and pay me at the end of the week." He jammed the bar under the edge of the lid and gave a violent yank. The nails groaned in protest, and he moved along to repeat the process.

Soon the lid was on the floor, and the Mellanine reached in to remove the protective packing material.

"It's a boy," exclaimed the third man when he took a look, then hesitated. "No, it can't be, of course. What a remarkably human-looking robot." He moved his hand to touch the dark skin of its face.

The Mellanine instantly had a pistol pointing at the man's head. "Nobody touches the Holy One's chosen robot," he snapped.

The man yanked his hand away. "Sorry! I had no idea he was so delicate."

"Not even I am permitted." He pulled a computer device from beside the head of the robot and turned it on. "Time to wake up, Berq'an," he said as his fingers danced over the various icons.

Berq'an immediately sat up and removed the rest of the packing material, then clambered out of the crate. Standing comfortably at ease, it said, "What is your command, sir?"

* * *

><p>"Hi Astro," said Cora when Astro answered his phone.<p>

"What's up?"

"I just thought you might like to know that there's this kid I was just talking to who was asking about you. I'm here in the Robovale East Mall, and I sent him over to Hamegg's because I know you hang out there a lot."

"Can you tell me anything about what he looks like?"

"Um, you know, about your height, darkish skin, brown eyes, red shirt; that's about it."

"Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for him. I wonder what he wants."

"He didn't say."

"Sure."

* * *

><p>Berq'an glanced around at the rundown storefronts and the potholed roadway. The girl's directions had gotten it to the street where this place called 'Hamegg's' was located, but now it would have to ask someone else for help to finish the job. Seeing a girl of about the same height as itself, it approached her. "Excuse me," it said.<p>

"You need help with something?" answered Evan-sa.

"Yes. My name is Berq'an, and I'm seeking Astro Tenma. I understand that he stays at Hamegg's. Can you tell me where this place is?"

"Sure, but I'll do even better than that: I'll take you right there."

"I thank you. That's very kind."

As they strolled down the dusty street, Evan-sa said, "You're a robot, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Back at the warehouse, the Mellanine operative stared at the computer controller screen in shock, but quickly recovered. "Berq'an," he said. "Ask her how she can tell that you're a robot."

"Excuse me," Berq'an said obediently. "How can you tell that I'm a robot?"

"Eh," Evan-sa shrugged. "It's pretty obvious to me; after all, I'm robotic too."

The Mellanine nearly dropped the controller. _She_ was a robot? Were there more robots like Astro? And if so, how many? This could get interesting. (It might even mean a promotion.)

"Astro," she radioed. "I've just run into a robot named Berq'an that's looking for you."

"Oh yeah?" he answered. "Could you please send me an image?" What he saw matched Cora's description, and was also a duplicate of his disguise in Suenisia. "Berq'an, huh. There's not too many people who know that name. Did it say why it was looking for me?"

"I'll ask." Evan-sa turned to Berq'an. "Why are you looking for Astro, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I have something that my master wishes to give to him."

She transmitted that to Astro.

"Okay, a robot named Berq'an with a gift is looking for me," radioed Astro. "How suspicious is that? I'm at the dorm right now." The 'dorm' was the new building where Hamegg and the children now lived, separate from the 'shop'. "But maybe I'll head over to the railway trellis, just in case that gift is another bomb. Meet me there."

"Gotcha. On our way."

Astro sat on a rock that was pockmarked by the numerous feedings of baby androids. A few metres to his left, Orkan stood alertly, trying to imagine what sort of trick Dr. Mella might pull this time.

As Berq'an approached, Astro noticed that Ran-tan, carrying their baby on one arm, had joined Evan-sa and was watching the visitor warily.

Berq'an stopped several metres in front of Astro and bowed. "I greet you, Astro," he said.

"Hi," Astro replied. "You said you had a gift for me."

The Mellanine in the warehouse blinked. He knew already? They must communicate by radio. Not bad. "Aim," he said to Berq'an.

"Yes," said Berq'an. "The Holy One sends his respects and wishes for you to have this."

"Fire!"

A small object shot out from Berq'an's forehead and attached itself to Astro's chest. Tiny tendrils crept out and sank into Astro's clothing as he grabbed at it, then the thing vaporized at his touch.

Instantly, Ran-tan and Evan-sa dashed to Astro's side, while Orkan tackled Berq'an with both hands aflame with blue energy.

The Mellanine agent struggled to make sense of the information he was getting on the controller until it reset and reported that it had lost contact with its robot. He swore mightily, then dashed out to his car, hoping almost beyond hope that the Holy One's precious robot hadn't already been destroyed.

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Luna linked anxiously from the dorm, but all she got was a busy signal.<p>

She started to push and search around Astro's mind, and discovered that his dynamic memory was jammed with very unfamiliar data. Then Ran-tan linked in as well.

"Ran-tan," she linked. "Do you know what's happened to Astro?"

"That robot that just showed up, Berq'an, shot some kind of probe thing at him. Have you figured anything out yet?"

"Just what you can see yourself: his dynamic memory is loaded with some weird stuff."

"How about you purge it, and we'll see if he reboots."

"Okay. Master override: initialize dynamic memory purge; complete."

[Confirm (master override: initialize (dynamic memory purge))] [Complete] [Initialize (dynamic memory purge)] [Complete] [Initiate (dynamic memory purge)] ... [Complete]

Luna waited for a moment. "Astro?"

"Try commanding a reboot," linked Ran-tan.

"Right. Master override: reboot; complete."

Still nothing.

"The processor's running," linked Ran-tan. "So where's Dad at?"

"He's here somewhere," replied Luna. "I'm still linked to him after all."

"What's up?" Orkan linked.

"Astro won't restart," replied Luna.

"Hmm, I wonder why. I crashed Berq'an's computer so it wouldn't do anything dumb like self-destruct, so let me go scan its memory and see if I can get any clues about what it did to Dad. Be right back." He broke the link.

"I better go with him," linked Ran-tan, and broke off too.

Luna concentrated on the feeling of Astro's presence in their link. What's wrong, Astro? Why won't you answer me?


	17. Chapter 17: The Holy One Ascends

"Astro," Luna linked. "I know you're here. Please: answer me."

His presence grew more definite, then he linked, "Luna."

"Astro! Are you alright?"

"Alright? All right? All. Right. Umm, wait."

Suddenly she could feel him at full power.

"There," he said. "Wow."

"What happened?"

"When that thing from Berq'an hit me, it downloaded a very aggressive program. I couldn't control it, and it blocked my emergency shutdown, so I jammed in a random memory over-writer program of mine, and then lost contact. I think I must have pushed myself out of my own processor; it was majorly weird."

"No doubt. I was able to clear the junk out of your dynamic memory and reboot your processor okay, so you think you'll be good to go now?"

"Let me check. ... All clear; I'm in." He opened his eyes, looked around, and found Orkan, Ran-tan, and Evan-sa all hunched over a prone Berq'an. Standing up, he asked, "What's with him?"

"Dad!" Ran-tan and Orkan shouted together.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Just a little glitch from when I defended myself against that gift."

"I crashed it," said Orkan, pointing at the still robot. "We were trying to find out what it had done to you."

"And?"

"As near as we can tell," said Ran-tan, "it sent you a program that was supposed to override everything and become your operating system."

Astro stooped down to get a better look at Berq'an. "I suppose it would have worked too, if I had been just a robot."

Orkan glanced around. "I think we'd better get out of here. Berq'an's likely got somebody nearby who's supposed to be looking after it, and they're probably on their way." He stood up and grabbed the robot.

"Good idea," said Astro. "Let's go."

A couple of moments after they had cleared out, the Mellanine pulled up and hunted over the entire area, frantically scanning with the controller, but was unable to turn up any evidence for the drama that had just taken place or any sign of his master's precious robot.

* * *

><p>Dr. Mella's projected image flickered into view in the spacious and well-appointed office. "What is our status, Mr. President?" he asked through translation software.<p>

The man in the dark blue suit bowed. "Agent Six has failed, Holy One, and your robot is lost. However Six did report a finding of interest before he ... died: it seems that Astro is not the only robot of its kind."

"Lost, eh?"

"Yes, Holy One. Our agents examined the area where Six's body was found, and there was no sign of the robot except for the controller, which Six was still holding. We have to assume the worst, since they were unable to make contact of any kind with the robot through that controller."

"It is well for Agent Six that he administered his punishment himself. As for those ... Astro-style robots, deal with them."

"Immediately, Holy One." He bowed as the image flickered out.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Astro located Orkan with the non-functioning Berq'an in his small unfurnished hut in the junk field. "Find anything useful?" he asked.<p>

"Nope," said Orkan. "The only other software it had was its operating system and associated libraries, and those were pretty much off-the-shelf."

"So basically an ordinary robot with custom packaging."

"Yup, pretty much. Can we keep it?"

He shrugged. "We sure don't want Mella to have it back, if he was the one who sent it."

"If?"

"Yeah, I know: Who else would have? You got plans for it?"

"I just want to mess around with it; you know, reprogram it and stuff, maybe let Ran-tan's kid play with it when it gets a little bigger."

"Go for it. Sounds like fun."

"Sure."

Astro gazed at the ceiling for a moment. "Orkan, I want some advice. If you were Mella, how mad would you be about now?"

Orkan resisted the urge to wince in loathing for having to dip back into the pool of evil. "After failing to get you again? How about 'exploding volcano', as in: wipe out anything that has to do with you."

"Like all the androids?"

"Like all the androids."

"Thanks. We better get everyone out to those farms tomorrow at the latest."

"I'll be ready."

After Astro had left, Orkan tapped Berq'an's head in a couple of places, and it split open. "Now," he muttered to himself, "let's get that little weapon out of there before it hurts anybody else."

As he tinkered, he thought about Leader: who he was as a person; what drove him to do what he did. He couldn't have been all evil, could he?

Yes, he could. From the murder of his maker to the murder of the group seeking changes in taxation policies, there was nothing but pride, the seeking and using of power, the growing connections with the Mellanine group in the capital city.

Gently he pulled the radio equipment out of the way and was able to get a hold of the little launcher. It came out easily.

Then he realized that, no, Leader wasn't totally evil after all. The conflict with Astro shook him more than he had himself realized. He thought he had it all, but in the face of Astro's firm defiance, it meant nothing.

After his attempts to destroy Astro had failed, suddenly he wanted the android: an equal, one who could stand up to him and make it stick. The humans were so weak, so fragile, so useless. Astro was a new power, one to be reckoned with, one who could be useful ... one who would understand.

He lured him in, but was horrified to discover that Astro already had a friend, a lover: Luna. Crushed, he tried to destroy them both—and failed again.

Orkan reinstalled the radio, and closed up Berq'an's head. Stepping in front, he gazed into the robot's blank and lifeless eyes.

Yes, that's when it all changed. He awakened in the hands of Astro and Luna, who loved him in spite of everything, and gave him far more than he'd ever dreamed was possible.

Yes. He was Pilon Orkan. At over fifteen years of age, he was technically the oldest, the most experienced of the androids. But he'd never say anything. He was simply happy to be alive, one of the 'droids—two things Leader could only have yearned for. And he didn't hate Leader any more, because Leader was truly a part of him—a troubled part, but a part.

* * *

><p>"Mr. President," said General Perham, chief of the Civil Defence Administration, as he stood stiffly in front of the desk in the presidential office. "Regarding the Holy One's orders to eliminate Astro Tenma and his annoying robot friends: It appears that they have gone into hiding."<p>

He spread his hands. "Well, no problem then."

"I wish it was that easy. They seem to have taken practically all of the unholy ones in and around Robovale with them."

"Now that _is_ a problem. What are you proposing we do about it?"

"Nothing for now, is my advice. We need to forget about them and move swiftly on the unholy ones in the remainder of Antemonain and of Wesaimin: get them all out of circulation before _they_ can slip out of our hands, so that they can't interfere with our plans. We can always get back to the robots later."

"Do it."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>As Ran-tan set up his portable computer screen to show the broadcast of the ascending of Dr. Mella to the overflow crowd in the large farmhouse dining room, Astro sat and gazed at Orkan, who was happily linked with five-week-old Maz-ven—how Ran-tan and Evan-sa's baby had come up with that name, no-one knew.<p>

Orkan had linked with Astro shortly after he had successfully integrated Leader into his persona, to show Astro how the world saw him.

He, Astro, was just an android, and yet Leader Orkan had chased after him, Dr. Mella was chasing after him—even God himself had appeared to him.

It made no sense.

"It makes sense when you factor me in, Astro."

"God!" Astro linked.

"You are just an android, but you obey me, so other people feel my love."

"So why's Mella trying to kill me?"

"Because that love shines my light of truth into his darkness where he wants to hide his selfishness and hatred. He wants very much to be seen as a hero and a great one, but in reality he's a poor lonely child who plays empty little games that kill people. He hates that light; he hates me; he hates you."

"Ouch," linked Luna.

"What can we do about it?" Astro asked.

"Shine."

"Understood, sir."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the world," came the announcer's voice from the computer screen. "The president of the great republic of Wesaimin, Victoro Tremorten!"

There was thunderous applause from the huge gathering in the square in front of the immense House of the Earth—the headquarters of the Congress of the Nations—as the man took his place on the podium.

"My fellow citizens of the Republic, and citizens of the world, welcome!" he said, raising his arms in greeting. Loud cheers. "This day is a great day in history, a day that will never be forgotten, a day when we realize our perfect freedom!" It took a couple of minutes before he could say anything else over the celebration. Finally, he was able to continue. "We are here today to achieve what has never been done before. We are here to bring unity to our world for the first time. We are here to acknowledge the Holy One, Cedillo Mella, the man sent by God to rule over us, as unchallenged president of the world!"

At that moment, the man himself appeared, hovering on a flying platform above the House of the Earth. It swooped onto the stage beside President Tremorten, and Mella stepped down beside him.

"Is the vote unanimous?" asked Mella through a translation device.

"Let the roll of leaders be called!" said Tremorten, and as their names were read, the government leader of each country in the world stood up from where he or she sat in front of the stage and called out, "I vote 'yes'!" Then came the leaders of the various world religions.

Astro cringed when the leader of those who supposedly worshipped God as he had seen him declared his vote.

When the roll was completed, the President asked the woman reading, "Have all accepted?"

"They have, Mr. President."

"Thank you." He turned to Mella. "Holy One, it is unanimous. Welcome, President of the World!" This time, the audience started to chant 'Freedom! Freedom!" and kept it up for at least five minutes.

Astro gazed at the vast throng as the cameras panned over it. Where had Mella intended for him to fit into all this?


	18. Chapter 18: It gets More Complicated

"Where were you to fit in?" Luna linked to Astro. "Obviously you were supposed to stand up right after those religious leaders and pledge the acceptance of robot-kind."

"And no doubt he's really touchy about the fact that I'm not there," he replied.

"No doubt."

Suddenly the camera was back on the President of Wesaimin. "People of the world! Let us now acknowledge the Holy One for who he truly is, the prophet and incarnation of the divine god-force that flows in all of us, our god who gives us freedom and unity for the rest of time." He knelt down facing Mella, and bowed his head, and everyone else in the square silently did the same ... almost.

The camera happened to catch for an instant a handful of people at the edge of the crowd who were still standing. In the quiet of all those worshipping, the gun shots couldn't be missed, and in a moment, there was no longer anyone standing.

"Shut it off!" roared Astro as he leaped to his feet. When the screen had disappeared, he glared at everyone and said, "_That_ is what Mella means by freedom! _That_ is what we are resisting here on this farm. Don't ever forget it, and don't expect life here to be easy. We're in it for the long haul, so we better get to work." He glanced around as the people headed back outside, and caught Orkan's eye. "Please come with me," he radioed over the hubbub, and Orkan quickly handed Maz-ven back to Evan-sa.

"What's up?" he asked when they were alone together under a large old oak tree.

"I doubt Mella's killed the other people of our God yet; where would he put them?" Astro said.

"Prison camps is my guess: out of the way; cheap; degrading to the max."

"Then we're in the prison-busting business as of right now. Mella is not God, and I'm going to rub his face in that fact until one of us is dead!"

* * *

><p>Orkan hovered just inside the base of some heavy low clouds as he studied the layout of the prison camp located several kilometres southwest of Sanpacho, the capital city of Antemonain.<p>

"It's pretty straight-forward," he radioed.

Astro, who was examining the camp from a tall maple tree near the wall, said, "So you and I tunnel into the commander's office and blue-touch them so they can't raise the alarm, then we call in everybody else to hop the fence, touch the guards, and rip a hole in the fence."

"I see plenty of people in there, so we're going to need both of those new farms."

"Sure; not a surprise. Let's get the others now."

* * *

><p>The seven androids crouched down behind bushes some hundred metres from the camp, their skin programmed to be black under their black clothes.<p>

Astro radioed to them, "It's night, so only some guards are awake, and the ones that are off-duty will be sleeping in this building." He updated the map file with an 'x'. "Zog and Dragon, you make sure they stay asleep."

"No problem," replied Zog.

"Everyone else will touch every guard they see until all of them are down. Then Ran-tan and Evan-sa will open up the north gate while the rest of us wake up the prisoners and get them outside. The rest you know. Okay?"

"Okay," they all radioed back.

"Let's go."

As they crept forward, Ran-tan linked to Evan-sa, "You sure Fipo's okay with Maz-ven?" Fipo was a young man they'd made friends with at the farm.

"It's asleep till at least four," she replied. "And we made sure there was plenty of rock for when it wakes up. I even told it that it couldn't ask him for skin."

"No problem then."

"Nope."

* * *

><p>"All of them are gone?" said President Tremorten as he sat behind his executive desk the next morning.<p>

"That is correct, sir," said his minister of provincial affairs, who was filling in on an emergency basis for the chief of the Civil Defence Adminstration. "Captain Gerbuckle radioed his commander about the escape as soon as he was able to."

"Who could have orchestrated such an event?"

"We don't know at this time, but there are CDA experts on the ground even as we speak, combing the camp for clues."

"Very well. Keep me informed." He leaned back in his chair after the man had left. "You heard, Holy One?"

The world president's image snapped into visibility in the centre of the room, and Tremorten hurriedly got to his feet and gave a deep bow.

"I heard," said Mella grimly. "It is those accursed Astro robots."

"That's what General Perham said. He is currently setting up a task force to search for them."

"Why was that not done before this?"

"The rounding up of the unholy ones was the urgent priority up until now, Holy One."

"Yes, but that is complete, other than this ... little setback. I want daily reports until those robots are permanently dealt with."

"Yes, Holy One. At your command."

The image flickered out, and the Wesaimin president went over to a counter and poured himself a stiff drink of whiskey.

* * *

><p>Orkan stood nervously in the only room of the androids' log house around lunch time.<p>

Ran-tan came in from out back and asked, "So where's Maz-ven?"

"I don't know," said Orkan. "I haven't even seen Evan-sa."

He threw up his hands. "I'll bet they sneaked into town to get their hair done for your wedding. It's just like your future mother-in-law to do that."

"Yeah, you're probably right, Dad-to-be." He grinned.

"You make me feel old, even though I am just turning one next week."

"Oh," said Orkan. "Did you know we're having your birthday party right after the wedding? You know, get it done before the next raid."

"It works for me."

"Anybody here?" called Astro as he and Luna came in. "Ah, there you are, Orkan."

"Hi, Dad," Orkan said. "We're still waiting for Maz-ven and Evan-sa."

They all sat down on the floor in a circle.

"You know," said Ran-tan. "Thinking of marriage and family, I keep remembering God's command to me every time I stand outside and stare at the stars at night. I sure wish me and Evan-sa could be heading to Mars sometime soon."

"And you remember that we need more families," said Astro.

"Of course. And I wish we knew how often we can beget. That way we could do some basic planning."

"We'll find out one of these days," said Luna.

"They're back," said Orkan, and he pointed out the front window, where the two lunas in question were coming across the field.

When they came in, Evan-sa, with long peach-blonde hair and clothing to match, presented Maz-ven, dressed in dusty blue. "Ta-da!" she said. "Doesn't she look wonderful?"

Orkan smiled shyly. "You look pretty, Maz-ven."

Maz-ven fought an embarrassed grin and stared at the dirt floor.

"Are they outside?" Ran-tan asked Orkan.

"Yeah."

"Hey you guys!" he radioed. "It's time!"

Zog and Dragon popped through the door a moment later, dressed in loud Foredanian outfits—Dragon had long since recovered from her fear of colours.

"Okay everybody," said Astro. "Get in your couples, and we can begin." He pulled Luna close as Ran-tan went over to Evan-sa, and Zog and Dragon took up station between the two parent couples. Orkan stood beside Astro, and Maz-ven fidgeted by her father, Ran-tan.

The bride and groom remained silent as the rest broke into a quiet flowing musical piece, each synthesizing an instrument with their mouth. After a minute, Orkan stepped forward and, gazing at Maz-ven, began a quiet trumpet line. A couple of moments later, she took a hesitant step toward him and added a flute, softly at first, then more boldly.

The music went on for ten minutes, and when it ended, both the bride and groom were ready. They took each other's hands, linked, and, looking into each others eyes, spoke their promises as the wedding rings formed on their fingers.

"Go," said Astro and Luna together, repeating God's command. "Have many children, and fill the galaxy with joy."

"We will," they answered.

* * *

><p>Astro and Luna stood linked out under the starry sky after Ran-tan's birthday party.<p>

"You're one year and eight months old," Luna linked.

"And you're only two months less. Life's been good."

'Click.'

"Astro! It's happening!"

They hurriedly got their tops off, and in a couple of moments, their second child had begun.

A few minutes later, they leaned against a wooden fence as the new baby fed on some rocks cleared from a new field the androids had recently worked on.

"It's a year since Ran-tan was begotten," said Astro. "And it'll be another eight months before Zog and Dragon can settle whether this is a trend or not."

"Then two months later, Evan-sa and Ran-tan, and two more for Orkan and Maz-ven."

"And then their kids will marry, and we'll have another ..."

"And if we live to forty thousand years old, we're going to have an awful lot of kids."

Astro gazed up at the Milky Way. "Well, there's an awful lot of galaxy. What, two hundred billion stars, give or take?"

"But aren't our numbers going to be going up real fast soon?"

Astro did some quick calculations. "Okay, I guess we'll have to be moving out into the solar system pretty soon for sure."

"Hey, guys," said Orkan as he and Maz-ven approached. "What are you doing here?"

"Feeding our new baby," said Luna.

"What? Hey, that means ..."

Astro nodded. "It was about a year ago that we begot Ran-tan."

"Alright! Now we know. And we were just going to feed our own newly begotten."

"Cool," said Astro. "Come on. Lots of rock for both of them."

* * *

><p>"There's something wrong," said Orkan from where he hunched behind a tree. "It's too quiet."<p>

The prison camp looked normal enough, with a couple of guards pacing back and forth through the grounds.

"What do you mean?" said Astro, beside him.

"We should be able to hear the breathing from the prisoners with our hearing at max."

"And there's a sound that doesn't belong, over there." He pointed at a bunkhouse.

"You want to spring the trap?"

Astro grinned. "Let's do it."


	19. Chapter 19: The Battle Lines Are Drawn

Astro and Orkan erupted through the floor of the bunkhouse and surprised a couple of soldiers who were sitting around a computer screen. One of them was alert enough to pull his gun and get a shot off (for all the good that would do) before Astro touched him. Orkan laid out the other one.

"Now, what were they up to?" Astro asked as he picked up the computer. Laying his blue-energized hand on it, he scanned the thing's memory. "Okay," he said. "That's what they were doing." He held the computer out towards Orkan. "You can do the honours, if you want."

"You bet," said Orkan and checked out what was on the display. Selecting an icon, he tapped it, and the commander's building—where they normally would have gone first—blew up. "Oops," he said, and giggled. "My bad."

Abruptly, the sound of vehicles filled the air, and soldiers poured into the camp grounds as orders were shouted.

"I think we've outworn our welcome," said Astro.

"Well, we'd best be going then." He bowed. "After you, Father."

"Why thank you." He blasted through the ceiling with Orkan close behind.

* * *

><p>"They're wise to us now," Astro said to the seven other adult androids, as well as his father, Melissa, Dr. Elefun, and Fipo in the farmhouse kitchen. The two spherical babies lay contentedly side by side on a slab of rock that Luna had brought in and laid on the table for them.<p>

"So what do we do now?" Evan-sa asked.

"I was thinking we could go overseas," said Astro, "and do the same thing there. I doubt much word of our activities has gotten out. I mean, Wesaimin's probably way too embarrassed to say anything about it."

"Do you intend to set up farms as places of refuge then?" asked Elefun.

"Yeah, I guess," said Astro. "Why?"

"Different cultures have different ways. Perhaps you should free the people first, and then let them tell you what will serve them best."

"That'll make it more of a pain to look after them after we've sprung them," said Orkan.

"We'll just have to put up with it," snapped Dragon. "We sure don't want to be wasting our time building something they can't use."

"So we'll have to bring food?" asked Maz-ven.

"That's right," said Orkan. "But, again, they probably eat different stuff than the humans here."

"More than likely," said Elefun. "I think I can help you with the research on that, if you want."

"That would be really good," said Astro. "We need to do it right the first time."

Tenma cleared his throat. "Is everything settled then?"

"Sure, Dad. I think so, at least." He glanced around, and the androids either nodded or shrugged. "Yup. Go ahead."

He stood up and pushed the chair in."Melissa and Sam were finally able to get out here to the farm yesterday, and it seemed to be a good time to be looking forward." He touched her shoulder. "I just want to announce that Melissa and I are now engaged to be married."

"Hey, Dad!" Astro said, and everybody cheered.

* * *

><p>President Tremorten stood nervously in his office as the image of Mella glared at him. "Holy One," he said. "We have been unable to do anything about the Astro robots because we have no idea where they are. They have not attacked a retraining centre in a couple of months."<p>

"Well, I have been receiving disturbing reports from all over the world. Six centres have been destroyed and the unholy ones scattered, that I know of right now. I need action!"

"Yes, Holy One. Perhaps we could make examples of some of the unholy ones under our control whenever they attack a centre in the future?"

Mella smiled grimly. "Why, what a good idea. I'll leave it in your capable hands to set that in motion, _and_ to set up an international task force to deal with those robots ... immediately!"

"Y-yes, Holy One." He bowed. "Thank you."

Once Mella was gone, he snatched up from his desk the shot of whiskey that he had prepared beforehand.

* * *

><p>"Daddy!" yelled Astro's five-week-old child Flin-bik as it tore across the yard to tackle him after his absence to break open another prison camp.<p>

Astro picked it up and hugged it. "How are you today?" he asked.

A cloud seemed to pass over the young one's face. "Scared, Daddy."

"Oh? Why are you scared?"

"Put me down. I show you." It scampered into the farmhouse, and Astro followed, curious. "See what Tenma recorded!" Picking up the control, it triggered the computer screen.

"Who taught you to use the computer?" Astro asked.

"Fipo did. He's nice human."

"That's true enough."

Flin-bik searched thoughtfully through the icons, then picked one of them, and a news item began to play.

"The President of Wesaimin, Victoro Tremorten, announced yesterday that, in response to frequent unprovoked attacks on centres around the world where unholy ones are being retrained, he is instituting a policy of reprisal. He put it this way in his announcement."

Tremorten appeared and said, "For every overseas centre that is attacked from here on in, a hundred of the unholy ones being held here in our fair republic will be summarily shot. These raids cannot be permitted to continue, and so we were forced to implement such drastic measures to bring them to an end. In addition," he went on as a picture of Astro appeared, "whoever reports seeing this robot, or any of its related models, will be declared a hero of the republic and handsomely rewarded." He was put back on-screen. "These robots are extremely dangerous, so do not attempt to deal with them on your own. Your Civil Defence Administration is equipped to handle them."

The announcer came back on. "Since another attack was reported yesterday, this was the scene at the re-education centre outside of Gattshier last evening."

Suddenly, there was an open courtyard with a dozen people lined up along a wall to one side. Shots rang out, and they all collapsed. Soldiers hurriedly dragged the bodies away, and another dozen lined up.

What Astro noticed in this horror was that the victims were not forced into place, nor was there any evidence of fear in them. They stood bravely, staring at their executioners until they fell. How could they do that? he wondered.

"Daddy, why do they fall down?" Flin-bik asked nervously.

"Because the guns the soldiers are shooting kill them."

"Daddy, can they kill me?"

"No, Flin-bik, not those guns."

"Oh. That's good. Thanks, Daddy." It turned and headed outside.

Astro was relieved that his child hadn't asked the obvious next question: What _can_ kill us?

* * *

><p>Orkan watched the news clip grimly, then said, "They're trying to control the game."<p>

"How can they do that?" said Astro.

"Simple. If they kill humans here for humans freed in other countries, then we'll be forced to try and free those here to prevent that. Then they have a better chance of getting us."

"Does that mean they have a way of getting us yet?"

"Who knows? But they've got to be seriously working on it. And all they have to do now is make it _look like_ they have 'unholy ones' someplace so that, when we come, they can use whatever they've figured out."

"Just like they've tried already."

"Yup. Just like."

Astro stared at the wall. "Orkan," he said softly. "What happened to the plasma weapon technology your military was using?"

"That? You had proved how unreliable it was in battle, so I'd gotten them to shelve the research. Why?"

"The technology's still available though."

"Yeah ... Oh boy. That's right. It could hurt you. I saw that lots of times when we linked."

Astro glared at him. "It could _kill us_. It just has to hit our core. There's no defence against it."

"Umm ... crap. All we can hope is that the Mellanines don't find it."

"M-hmm. That's right."

"God protect us," Luna linked fervently.

* * *

><p>President Tremorton sat to one side as General Perham addressed the room full of CDA specialists.<p>

"Gentlemen. Ladies." He nodded at everyone. "We know that the Astro robots have not yet reacted to the executions yesterday, and I'm as sorry as you are about the abrupt change of policy, but we have up to now seriously underestimated our opponents. They are smart; they are very fast; they are just about invulnerable to our weapons; and the technology that makes them tick is way beyond anything our robotics experts have ever seen. We won't bother speculating about where it might have come from, because we have to deal with the equally difficult question of destroying it." He started to pace across the front of the room. "What we need from you is research: dig up odd-ball lines of development, or far-out physics theories, anything that might give us an edge against these renegade robots. Needless to say, the government will cover the costs of developing anything that looks even remotely workable, and is quite willing to offer lucrative bonuses to whoever finds something that proves to be effective." He stopped as a buzz of excited conversation filled the room, and glared at them. "Any questions?"

A senior manager near the front stood up. "General, what sort of time restraints are we under for this project."

"Let me spell it out to you," growled the general. "Yesterday would be ideal; we'd be okay with today; but tomorrow at the latest. Understood?"

He paled. "Uh, yes sir. Thank you."

As the manager hastily sat down, the president got up and said, "One thing to keep in mind is that there are dozens of retraining centres all across Wesaimin, so anything you find must be at least somewhat portable, since we can have no idea where the robots might strike next. Devices that use a particle accelerator, for instance, are out of the question. Please put your loyal best into this effort, because the honour of our republic and the respect of the Holy One ride on our success in this endeavour. May the Holy One bless our efforts."

"Let it be so," the crowd said, using the approved response to the president's prayer.

* * *

><p>"Psst!" Flin-bik stood in the doorway of the androids' house. It was holding Berq'an's hand and waving urgently to Mee-spen, Orkan and Maz-ven's child. The two young androids were now seven weeks old, nearly full grown.<p>

Mee-spen ran over and asked in a loud whisper, "What are you doing?"

"Berq'an's just a robot. Zog and Dragon were just robots too, but Daddy made them into androids like us. I want Berq'an to be like us too. Will you help me?"

"Sure. What do we do?"

"I saw it when I linked with Daddy once. He gave them some of his blue energy." It came closer to Mee-spen and said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm going to do that to Berq'an, and you can too. Come on."

"But will your daddy be okay with that?" Mee-spen asked as it came in.

"He doesn't care. He said I could do what I wanted with it as long as I didn't break it. I'm not going to break it. It's like I'm going to fix it."

"Okay. But how do we do it?"

It gave a nervous little giggle. "Um, you have to open your power supply so your core is showing."

Mee-spen clutched its chest where the power supply lay. "But that's very private!"

"Shh! I know. Please? This is important."

It glared at Flin-bik for a moment, then slumped a bit. "Oh, all right; but just this once. And don't tell anyone you saw, okay?"

"I promise. Thanks a lot." Flin-bik quickly led Berq'an over to the centre of the unfurnished room and had it take off its shirt and open its power supply.

The two androids pulled off the oversized tee-shirts that identified them as children. Standing naked in the centre of the floor, they tittered nervously as they opened their own supplies, trying desperately to look anywhere but at each other's core. Then, in the soft blue glow, strands of energy began to pour out and gather inside the robot's chest.

"Isn't that enough?" asked Mee-spen after a minute, keeping her eyes locked on Berq'an's power supply.

"No way," answered Flin-bik firmly. "When Daddy did it, Zog and Dragon didn't become androids right away. He didn't give them enough. We've got to give Berq'an lots and lots, so it can be an android right now."

Mee-spen gave a shrug and kept pushing.

After a little longer, Flin-bik was startled to hear from its processor, [System warning: Low power; protective shutdown immanent]. It glanced at Mee-spen, said, "Oops," and collapsed on the floor.

Mee-spen stared, frightened, then crumpled beside its friend.


	20. Chapter 20: Of Moles and Earthquakes

Fipo was startled to see a shirtless Berq'an carrying naked Flin-bik and Mee-spen over its shoulders and walking toward the farmhouse. "What happened to them?" he asked.

"They were using their energy to make me into an android," Berq'an answered, "and they fell down and became non-functional. That troubled me after a while, so I came looking for help."

Fipo ran his hand through his hair. "Well, you know, all the other androids are out on mission, so I suppose you'll just have to keep those two at your place until their parents get back. I'm sure they'll know what to do."

"Thank you. I'll do that." It returned to the androids' house, and, laying the two children on the floor, sat down beside them to wait.

An hour and a half later, Mee-spen opened its eyes and looked around. Spotting Berq'an, it asked, "Are you an android now?"

"I don't know," Berq'an answered. "What is an android that is different from a robot?"

"Androids have a blue core."

"If I had one of those, where would it be?"

"In your power supply."

"I will look." It opened the chest door, and the tell-tale blue glow appeared.

"That's it!" said Mee-spen, raising its arms triumphantly. "Yes! You're an android."

"Is that a good thing?"

"You bet it's good! You're one of us now; you're not just a robot." It then jerked its head to one side. "Um, quick, close it, close it."

"Alright." Berq'an closed its power supply door, then asked, "Why are you upset?"

"Something my mom and dad put in my programming when I was little is that my core's very private. I gotta keep it closed away all the time, and never tell a human about it."

"I see."

Mee-spen struggled to a seated position and checked Flin-bik. "Oh boy. Flin's still out, huh."

"Yes, it is. Perhaps it will recover as you have." Berq'an closed its power supply door.

"Yeah, probably. Can you get me my shirt, please? Daddy and Mommy don't like me going about without it on."

"Certainly." It got up and fetched both tee-shirts from where they had been tossed earlier. "Why must you wear such a thing?" it asked when it handed the shirt over.

"Daddy says the humans are kind of funny about being naked—they wear clothes all the time—so it's an android rule to wear stuff like they do."

At that moment, Flin-bik stirred and opened its eyes. "What happened?" it asked groggily, and Mee-spen explained, while Berq'an located its own shirt and put it back on.

"But Berq'an's still got a robot body," said Flin-bik, finally sitting up. "It needs to restart, like Zog and Dragon."

"What is this restarting?" Berq'an asked.

"We take your core out, and raise it like a baby android," said Flin-bik. "You get an all-new body, and when you grow up, you get rockets in your feet and hands, and you can fly in space."

"Does that have to be done right now?"

"I guess not. Zog was a robot type android for a couple of weeks after his core turned on."

"I see. Then I will think about it."

Fipo appeared at the door, a little out of breath. "Oh, you're awake," he said when he saw them. "Anyway, your folks are back."

Mee-spen stood up, then wobbled a little. "I think we'll wait here for them. We're still kind of tired."

"Hey, no problem." He hurried away.

* * *

><p>The now eleven androids gathered in the androids' house to discuss the latest raid as evening fell.<p>

"That was disgusting!" spat Dragon. "Killing those people to try and get us!"

"What happened?" Berq'an linked to Orkan who was sitting beside it. Orkan had uploaded a mass of files to it earlier to get it up to speed with the rest of the androids.

"Basically, we disabled all the soldiers in the camp, but when some of us went into one of the bunkhouses to get the people out, a really powerful automatic bomb of some kind went off and killed all the humans. Zog, Dragon, Ran-tan and Evan-sa were knocked out of action, and we had to give them a shot of our blue energy to help them come to faster. It was pretty nasty."

"Indeed. Are they fully recovered?"

"Oh yeah; they're over there."

Berq'an glanced up to check for itself, then linked, "So what now?"

"Pay attention to the meeting, and you'll find out."

"Alright."

Suddenly a low rumble filled the air, and everything began to shake—not violently, but it couldn't be mistaken.

"Earthquake," muttered Astro. "What's going on? This isn't even a common earthquake area."

"I'll bet it'll be covered in the on-line news," said Zog.

"That's right. Berq'an, could I get you to monitor that for us? You can break in whenever you find out anything important."

"Yes sir." It turned to Orkan. "Sorry, but could you fill me in after the meeting?"

"No problem," said Orkan.

"Now," said Astro to the group as the gentle rumbling continued. "The Mellanines are clearly getting desperate, using robot-sensing triggers on bombs to try to kill us. We're going to have to find some way to get the humans to come out so we don't set off another one. We can't afford to lose any more of the God-fearing people."

"Not to mention give Mella the satisfaction of having us do his dirty work for him," said Dragon.

"Um, why don't you just, you know, shout at them ... from outside?" said Mee-spen.

Astro rolled his eyes and said, "Nothing like having a child tell us the obvious." He smiled at Mee-spen. "That's what we'll do the next time."

Mee-spen quickly hid behind its mother, Maz-ven.

"Something else we're going to have to consider," said Orkan. "Moles."

"What are they?" asked Flin-bik, and it glanced around as the rumbling finally stopped.

"Mellanine agents pretending to be God-fearers. What better way to spy on us and find out what we've been doing than to be where the action is?"

"I think it'd be better to talk to the humans about that," said Astro. "We have no way of telling them apart, but they might be able to catch someone who's faking it."

Orkan nodded. "That could work."

"Excuse me," said Berq'an.

"Go ahead," said Astro.

"The announcer is saying that the earthquake is a potential major disaster. They've lost all contact with the capital city of Montrovo province, and numerous towns and cities around it."

"Montrovo?" said Luna. "That's a couple of hundred kilometres west of here. It must have been a pretty big quake."

"Nine point five on the Richter scale, they're saying," said Berq'an.

"Whoa!" said Astro. "That's huge!"

"Uh, he's also saying that places that they have been able to contact away from the epicentre of the earthquake have reported massive damage."

"Thanks," Astro said. "Okay, 'droids; we'd better head over to our farms in Montrovo first thing in the morning, and see how the humans are making out there. They weren't all that far from the capital."

"Do we all need to go?" Luna asked.

"Maybe not," he said. "Ran-tan and Evan-sa, Zog and Dragon; you can come with me." Then, turning back to Luna, he said, "I'll link you if we need more help than that."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"Yes," said the leader of the first farm they got to. "The shaking must have gone on for at least ten minutes; it was terrifying."<p>

"But everybody's okay?" Astro asked.

"We've had some injuries, but they were minor, and nobody was killed, thank God. Your low houses really held up well, though the roofs suffered damage: That's how most of the people got hurt."

"Okay; we'll help clean up, then go look at the other farms."

"Thanks; we appreciate everything you've done for us."

They then told the humans about what Orkan had called moles.

* * *

><p>Later, they had to fly over the capital on their way to the next farm—keeping low to try and stay off of enemy radar—and they found the city levelled, with fires burning everywhere. In another place, several towns had been washed away when a dam collapsed. However, the next farm was no worse off than the first, nor was the third.<p>

When Astro mentioned moles at the fourth farm, the leader they were talking to said, "We did have that problem once, not too long ago. The poor fella didn't know something basic about our beliefs, and it became plain what he was under questioning."

"What happened to him?" Zog asked.

"He tried to run, so we had to shoot him. It was too bad, but we couldn't have him getting back to the Mellanines and telling them where we were, could we?"

"No way," exclaimed Dragon fervently.

* * *

><p>"What's going on?" Astro linked to God as he sat with the others on the hill behind the fourth farm as the sun set. "You protected all these people from the quake, but you let the ones in Gattshier get shot. I don't get it."<p>

"Human life doesn't end with the destruction of the body, Astro," said God. "My people have an eternal destiny with me, and they know it. You saw how brave they were when facing Dr. Mella's guns. They saw execution not as destruction, but as being sent home."

"Do we have an eternal destiny too?"

There was no response.

"Astro," linked Luna after a moment. "Would it make any difference to you whether we did or not?"

"No, of course not. I just want to know."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do, Colonel?" asked the Mellanine agent as she and numerous others sat in a gloomy meeting room in Sanpacho, capital city of Antemonain. "Those Astro robots have been able to adjust to every plan we've come up with."<p>

"I've just gotten word from the higher-ups that a weapon has been located that might be powerful enough to kill them."

"Oh yeah? How many times have we heard that one?" asked another agent. "And how many of us have wakened up feeling like we're on fire in the last few months when they didn't work? Man, I hate that!"

"I am sorry for those failures too, and I feel your pain, but it is impossible to test anything without a test subject, and you all know how hard it is to get one of those." Several people chuckled at that. "However," he went on, "we need volunteers to train on this weapon." Groans. "All I'm asking for is a few. They'll undergo a week's training, and then placement for one of them in the field. These robots seem to have soft hearts, so it shouldn't be too difficult to trick one into coming after a 'left-behind unholy one', with a little ingenuity." He grinned as several hands went up. "I'll send all three of you to training, and make my choice once that's done."

"Can you tell us what kind of weapon it is?" one of the volunteers asked as the new trainees gathered around the colonel.

"It may not mean much to you now, but it's a gun that shoots a beam of plasma at its target. They've found nothing that can withstand it in testing."


	21. Chapter 21: Halfhearted

"May I join you?" Berq'an asked the four other androids gathered in a clearing near the farm at four thirty in the morning.

"Sure," said Ran-tan. "Be our guest."

"Why are you here, if I may ask?" it asked as it sat down on the grass.

"We're talking about space," said Zog, pointing skyward. "It's where we want to go. One of these days, this mess with the humans will be over."

"We'll have a big enough group by then," said Evan-sa. "And then we can take off to 'fill the galaxy with joy', like God told Ran-tan."

"I can hardly wait to go back to the moon," said Dragon dreamily.

Berq'an stared thoughtfully at the ground for a moment, a sudden desire to fly surging through its heart. "I wish I could go with you. Could you restart me, as Flin-bik once suggested, so that it would be possible?"

"No problem," said Zog. "Who do you want for parents?"

"Parents? I don't understand."

"You're going to become a baby, so you'll need 'droids to look after you till you're grown up."

"I would like Astro and Luna, if that's possible."

"I doubt it will be," said Evan-sa. "They've still got Flin-bik, though it'll be grown up really soon."

"Why not me and Dragon?" asked Zog. "Both of us are robot restarts, so we know exactly where you're at."

"Yeah," said Dragon. "We'd love to raise you."

Berq'an nodded. "Very well; I will go with you. Thank you very much."

"No problem," said Zog.

* * *

><p>Zog was staring off into the afternoon sky in the yard in front of the farm house.<p>

"What's up?" Flin-bik asked when he found him.

"I'm listening to a newscast: it seems the humans ruled by Mella are running into food shortages."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"They're giving out directions for people to collect rations for stuff like coffee, flour, and fruits and vegetables."

"Why would they do that?"

"It has to be crop failures around the world, even though nothing's been said about them in the news—which Mella controls."

Flin-bik's face lit up. "That's why we put all those people on farms!"

"Yeah, well, I think that must have been God's idea, because all _we_ wanted was places to hide them that were away from the cities. We can't take any credit for what's happened after that."

"What's the matter?" said Astro, walking towards them, and Zog explained. Then Astro said to Flin-bik, "That's the way our best destiny works: we do what needs to be done, and because we trust God, he makes it all work out."

"That's pretty cool," said Flin-bik.

"Now, I was looking for you, young astro, because there's the matter of your marriage."

Flin-bik giggled. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good. Mee-spen's waiting."

"I'll go get Dragon," said Zog. "She's out feeding Berq'an right now."

"Why don't you just link her?" Flin-bik asked.

"I already have, but I like being with her in person too." He walked off briskly towards a field where rocks were piled from land clearing.

"Oh, sorry," said Flin-bik, abashed. Then, after a moment, he turned to Astro and asked excitedly, "You think Berq'an will marry our kid when they're grown up?"

"It's possible, of course," said Astro as they headed towards the android house. "But come on, don't be in such a rush. You haven't even begotten it yet."

"Okay, okay. I just think it'd be kind of cute."

"Whatever. Let's get you and Mee-spen married first."

* * *

><p>"Hmm," radioed Astro, black-skinned and dressed in black, looking at the watchtowers located at the four corners of the prison camp. "Those are new."<p>

"Yeah," replied Luna. "It'll be harder to sneak in."

"No problem," radioed Orkan. "Four androids get above them under cloud cover and simultaneously drop through the roof of each."

"It'll be tricky," replied Astro, "since we lose our advantage if one of us is spotted too soon."

"But they'll be distracted by the other androids hopping the fence at the same time. It's all a matter of timing, hinging on when the soldiers on the ground are closest to the fence."

"What's everybody else think?" Astro asked, and got nothing but favourable responses. "Okay, Orkan," he radioed. "Set it up."

* * *

><p>Astro got his usual job of taking out the duty officer in the command centre, and, once that was done, he dashed outside to find that everything else had gone according to plan.<p>

"Okay, Astro," radioed Ran-tan. "Get the humans."

Astro reset his skin colour, then walked over to the nearest bunkhouse and rapped on the door. "Hello? You guys can come out now."

The door cracked open after a moment. "Who are you?" growled a gruff male voice.

"I'm Astro Tenma, leading a team of androids to rescue you. We've already disabled all the soldiers who were keeping you prisoners, so it's safe to come out now."

"Astro Tenma? Are you those robots that have been pretending to be saviours, and then slaughtering whoever they're able to trick into coming out into the open?"

"What? No way! We'd never do that, sir!"

"Who told you that?" asked Orkan sharply as he pushed in beside Astro.

"Um, that's what the soldiers reported to us," said the voice. "They said they were having a terrible time protecting us in these retraining centres because of them. Hundreds are supposed to have been murdered. That's why they built those towers recently."

"The only humans we've seen murdered are those who were shot by the Mellanines in payback for us freeing so many God-fearing people from these _prison camps_. So what are you going to do: take a chance with us; or are you going to wait until these guys wake up in an hour or so to take you prisoner again?"

There was a hushed discussion inside. Then the door opened wide, and the man stepped outside. "Sorry about our doubting you," he said. "But you do understand?"

"No problem," said Astro. "These are crazy times."

"Well said. Once everyone is awake, they'll start coming out. What will happen to us then?"

"We'll lead you guys out to a safe area nearby, then we'll each fly one of you to a farm we've set up in a hidden location."

The man halted. "Fly?"

"The farm's eighty-seven kilometres away. Flying's quicker than walking."

"You couldn't have gotten some trucks or the like?"

Astro spread his arms. "We're not big enough to drive a truck safely," he said ruefully.

The man stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing, which caused many of the others to turn to see what was going on. "You can't drive, but you can fly. How is that?"

"Several of us are licenced aircraft and pilots from before Mella took over, so we're good to go."

"Enough of this," snapped Orkan. "We've got half an hour to get everyone out of here before the guards wake up and sound the alarm, so we better get going."

"Right," said Astro, and asked the man, "What's your name, sir?"

"I'm sorry. I'm Petrod Janvik, spiritual leader of this group."

"Okay, Petrod; come with me, and we'll lead them all to the safe area."

"Alright."

As they started off, Orkan flew up into the clouds to co-ordinate things from there, and the rest of the androids scattered in all directions to watch for any activity from Mella's people.

By sunrise, they had gotten everyone moved to the farm, since it was overcast and they were able to make good speed through the clouds. Using relays of five androids, each one carrying a human wrapped in a blanket to protect them from the wind, they had flown out, with the other five taking off as soon as they returned to the safe area.

An older woman approached Luna in the yard that was surrounded by the log houses as the androids were getting the people settled later. "Excuse me, young lady. My name is Elentor Bastich, and I have a brother in Chinbury. He's a believer too, but he managed to escape by hiding in town."

"That isn't that far from that camp, is it?" Luna asked.

"That's right; just a couple of dozen kilometres or so. Do you think you and your robot friends would be able to bring him here? I can give you a letter of introduction so that he won't give you any trouble."

"Yeah, that would be a big help."

"Does she have detailed directions?" Astro linked.

"Can you draw us a map or something?" Luna asked Elentor.

"I'm no artist, but I'll do the best I can."

"Here's a map of Chinbury I got when I did a pickup from a factory there," linked Astro again, and uploaded it.

"Thanks," she replied, and led the woman to a place where she could get down to work.

* * *

><p>"I can get him," Luna said to Astro. "You've still got a lot to do getting these new people settled."<p>

"You sure?" He felt uneasy, but that wasn't unusual these days.

"Yes, I'll be fine. It's just one, and, I mean, why bring a crowd? It'll just make hiding that much harder, and I know how to look after myself."

"Okay, but I'll be monitoring the link."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>It was around midnight as Luna, entirely black, walked stealthily along Sugar Maple Drive in Chinbury, keeping to the shadows as much as possible and looking for number one forty-three. Her processor reminded her again that she needed to compile and archive, and she ignored it again.<p>

There it was: a reasonably stylish, if somewhat rundown-looking, house. She sneaked around to the back and disengaged the electronic lock. Inside, the house was dark, but that was to be expected, according to Elentor: he kept to the basement to avoid detection.

Luna entered as quietly as possible, but she knew that, if this guy was awake, he'd hear her. She located the door she wanted, and went down to the finished basement. There was the quiet hum of some kind of equipment, but that was normal enough. Carefully opening the door to the room on the left, she flicked the light on, and the quiet hum suddenly became the all-too-familiar whine of a fully charged plasma gun.

"Luna!" Astro linked frantically.


	22. Chapter 22: Crashing Waves of the Sea

"What happened to him?" Ran-tan asked anxiously as Orkan and Flin-bik knelt over Astro, who lay staring and unresponsive on the dirt floor of an unoccupied house on the new farm where they had laid him. Flin-bik had found him first thing in the morning at the edge of the farm yard.

"I can't tell for sure," said Orkan grimly, "since I can't get him to link back to me, but I did find this." He held up his father's left hand.

He gaped. "Mom's ring's gone! But how ... ?"

"I've already sent Maz-ven to Chinbury to find out, but there's only one reason I can think of for that to happen."

Ran-tan nodded. "She ... she's ..." His eyes filled with tears.

"She's what?" asked Flin-bik.

"Dead, my brother," said Orkan. "Somehow Mom has died out there."

"D-dead? How can you tell?"

Ran-tan stared grimly at the wall. "A wedding band is made through the link from the energy of our spouse's core. The only way it could disappear is for that core to ... go dead."

"No." Flin-bik backed away. "NO!" Crying, he fled in search of Mee-spen.

Orkan watched him go. "I think ... I think I may do the same thing when Maz-ven gets back."

"Yeah," said Ran-tan tightly, and linked, "Evan-sa, would you come here please?"

The rest of the androids—including Berq'an, and Flin-bik and Mee-spen's child Ish-pah—gathered as word spread, and they sat quietly leaning against the walls while they waited for Maz-ven to report. Suddenly, Orkan stiffened, and they all leaned forward anxiously.

His eyes widened, and he turned to Ran-tan. "Do you have the screen projector here?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Please, get it now."

When he returned with the device, Orkan connected to it. A screen opened, and on it was a rather uninteresting view of a crater. "That's what's left of Chinbury, according to Maz-ven" he said in explanation.

"What?" everybody exclaimed.

"How big is it?" asked Evan-sa.

"Maz-ven guesses that it's at least three kilometres across," replied Orkan, "and the damage out beyond it is scary bad."

"How's that possible?" said Dragon.

Ran-tan gazed at them all for a moment, then said, "There are only three things that could create that kind of damage: a nuclear bomb ..."

"It's not that," said Orkan. "Maz-ven's not picking up any radiation."

"There's that photon bomb that, uh, you used on Dad when you were Leader."

"I destroyed that research after he made a fool of me again by dodging it, so they haven't had time to make a new one yet. What's left?"

"Something Dad mentioned back when he was trying to decide what to do with your core: Dr. Elefun showed him how much energy a core contains, and that, with the use of a powerful-enough outside energy source, that core could ..." He forced the next word out: "... detonate."

Flin-bik whimpered, "Mommy," and the rest of the androids stared silently at each other as what that meant sank in.

Finally, Evan-sa wiped her eyes and asked, "What do you mean by, 'outside energy source' here, with Astro?"

"The one thing he feared," said Ran-tan. "The plasma gun. The Mellanines must have finally found it."

"That means that that woman, Elentor Bastich, may be one of their agents," said Zog angrily, "because she was the one who asked Luna to go get her brother there."

Dragon shot to her feet. "I'll go tell the humans!" she said as she headed for the door.

"No you won't!" shouted Orkan, and she froze. "We don't know for sure. Evan-sa, would you tell them, please?"

"Sure," she said, and left.

"Why not me?" said Dragon defiantly.

"That's a message that needs great gentleness," said Zog, laying his hand placatingly on her arm. "Evan-sa is the gentlest android here."

Dragon was plainly hurt, but she sat down with Zog and huddled against him.

Abruptly, Berq'an,who had been watching the whole exchange, burst into tears, and Zog and Dragon had to take it out for a while until it settled down again.

In the silence that followed, Mee-spen asked, "What do we do now, with Luna gone, and Astro ... like that?"

Ran-tan stood up. "I'd like Orkan to take over as our leader until Dad is functional again."

"Why me?" Orkan asked, surprised.

"It's obvious that you were his second in command. I mean, he trusted your advice without question. And I trust you."

"I don't like it, but I'll do it if everybody's okay with it." He looked around, and they all nodded. Bowing his head, he muttered, "Even when I don't want it, leadership follows me."

* * *

><p>"<em>What<em> happened to Chinbury?" exclaimed the President at the quailing projected figure of the governor of Foredan.

"There was an incredibly massive explosion, and the entire city is ... gone—apparently vaporized. Three-hundred thousand people are missing and presumed dead, and any evidence of the cause has to have been destroyed with them in the blast. Damage from the blast's shock wave extends well out into the countryside. We can't imagine what could possibly have triggered such an explosion."

"What, indeed." He sighed. "Thank you, Governor. I'll see what we can come up with in disaster relief, but, as I'm sure you're all too aware, things are getting tight."

"Yes. Thank you." He disconnected.

President Tremorton tapped an icon on his desk computer and bellowed, "Get me General Perham now!"

A few minutes later, the general's grim image appeared in the centre of the floor. "I take it you've heard about the Chinbury disaster."

"Governor Kelor told me."

"Hmm. And now you'd like my opinion as to its cause."

"Of course. Do you have one?"

"Yes, Mr. President, I do. One of the Mellanine agents was stationed there with an operational plasma gun, and I'm assuming that an Astro robot must have triggered their trap."

"So you're saying that the gun misfired?"

"That's the only possibility that I can think of which could account for what happened. It certainly couldn't have been the robot."

"No, of course not. I would suggest then that all further use of plasma weapons be suspended until your experts are able to come up with a good explanation. Dr. Mella's friends have been known to get ... a little testy when their property gets destroyed."

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>Astro searched the entire spectrum of the link one more time. Where was she? Why wouldn't she answer? She'd never been gone this long before.<p>

"Astro?" came a presence over his link.

Who? It definitely wasn't Luna. "Who are you?" he responded.

"It's me, Berq'an. Are you okay now?"

"Okay? Why?"

"I just noticed you were trying to link for the first time in a while. You've been awfully quiet, you know, ever since Luna ... died."

Astro shot up into a seated position and grabbed Berq'an's arm. "Dead? How do you know?"

Berq'an simply pointed at Astro's left hand.

Astro stared at the spot where Luna's wedding band had been, and the emptiness began to creep into his consciousness. Dead. How? He struggled to think back, to remember.

The last thing he recalled was ... Luna, staring at a soldier with a ... plasma gun ... pointed at her ... chest.

Dead. Gone. No good-bye, no link, no love, no nothing.

He flopped back and burst into desperate tears.

Berq'an quietly linked with him again, and waited.

After a while, a thought came to Astro: cores shot by plasma guns go boom. She was in Chinbury at the time.

"What's happened to Chinbury?" he linked.

"Um, it's gone."

Astro saw the image of a crater in the link, and gathered other details in the subtext.

"Can I go and get Dad for you?" Berq'an linked. "He's better at explaining." When Astro nodded, it stood up.

"Wait," Astro said, spotting Berq'an's new red boots. "You're grown up already? I've been out that long?" He looked at Berq'an again. "But ... but if you're an adult, where's your hair?"

Berq'an looked away, tears filling its eyes. "I never got any. Ish-pah and I tried to get married even though we didn't know whether I was astro or luna." It held up its left hand. "But no rings formed. She cried." It wiped away its tears. "I'm obviously not an astro; I doubt I'm a luna. I'm just a ... a freak android."

Astro jumped to his feet in spite of his own raging pain. "No, you're not! Sure, you're different, but so what? You just have to be patient until you find out where you fit in."

"What do you know about fitting in?" it shouted.

Something inside of Astro snapped, and he grabbed Berq'an's arm and linked with the android. "You need to see this!" he said, and called up his memories from before ... Luna. Gritting his teeth, he finished assembling the file, and uploaded it.

Finally, Berq'an said softly, "No way! You fit in worse than me: You weren't human—even though your father made you think you were—and you weren't really a robot either. And you were the only one. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Astro took it by the shoulders. "We'll survive, you and me. We have to." Berq'an nodded. "Now, let's tell everybody else I'm back." He radioed, "Hey! I'm here. Please come and see me!"

While Berq'an told him some basic news, the house quickly filled with androids, twelve in total.

"How many died in Chinbury?" Astro asked.

"According to our atlas program," said Berq'an, "over three-hundred thousand in and around the city."

"Oh man. They're gone too. All of them." He scowled. "Because of Mella." Looking around, he wiped tears from his eyes. "Link with me, all of you," he said. "I've been out of it for a while and I need to catch up—especially with you, Orkan. Congrats on your promotion." He managed a grin, and Orkan bashfully grinned back.

They linked by having the astros touch Astro's hands, and the lunas connecting through their wedding links. Berq'an and Ish-pah each touched one of his hands as well.

Astro immediately jumped in surprise, and everyone saw through the link what he was reacting to.

"Luna," he cried.

"Hi Astro," she said. "God has sent me to you to tell you that, yes, we androids also have an eternal destiny. The death of your body is simply the end of this life and the beginning of an eternity with God. Do not allow yourselves to despair. God will fulfil what he commanded; and I'll be here ..." She looked pointedly at Astro, "... waiting for you, and for all the children yet to come." She vanished from his inner sight.

"That was seriously special," said Dragon in awe, and everyone laughed.

Then Astro's eyes filled once more with tears, and he sagged to the floor, because the brief sight of Luna had ripped open his terrible wound.

The others wouldn't let go of him though. They maintained the group linkup for the rest of the day, attempting to fill some of that void called Luna in his heart. However, they couldn't answer the one question that Astro was holding in his mind: Why is my best destiny to be without Luna?

At nightfall, they quietly let him go so that they could sleep, except for Berq'an, who maintained its link with him even when it finally fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"She's gone, isn't she?" came the hissing voice of Adversary in the silence of the night.<p>

Astro winced at the pain as he recognized his enemy, but also felt Berq'an's sleeping presence in the link.

"My slaves destroyed her," it went on exultantly. "I told you your precious humans would listen to me, and now they hate you."

Waves of rage, of envy, of pride, washed over Astro, and he struggled to find himself in all of it.

"Oh no you don't," snapped Adversary. "You lost, robot. There's nothing left for you to live for. They tore her away from you, and now you're totally alone. It hurts; it's ripping you apart. You're _mine_." Its voice became tender. "Come, greet your new friend, Death. Let him quiet your fears, ease your pain. Why, he'll even help you to forget it all."

Astro struggled, even as the offer pulled at him, tempted him, urged him on. Dying would end it all. Yes.

"No!" linked Berq'an urgently. "Luna said we have an eternal destiny. Don't listen to this monster!"

Astro shook his head, and the spell broke. "I won't die!" he cried to Adversary. "You lose, jerk! I'll find a way to shame you. I won't let you master me!"

"You dare to defy me, you petty little robot?" roared Adversary. "I'll show you your eternal destiny!" A roiling ball of flame appeared to Astro's inner sight. But it wasn't ordinary fire: it was completely dark; glowing, but with terrible rage, not light; hiding, not revealing. It seared deep in his heart: utter isolation and abandonment; total fear; deepest shame; unending regret. In its turbulence lay complete madness.

Astro, even as he struggled to hold onto his sanity, knew what this vision was: hell.


	23. Chapter 23: Hell in a Hand Basket

In the midst of the fiery turmoil of his heart and mind, Astro heard a distant link, "God help us!"

Suddenly he was back. The nightmare vision was gone, and the soft light of the moon shone through the opening in the log wall where a window might go one day. Berq'an was still lying beside him, desperately clutching his hand and muttering "Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."

Astro linked, "Hey, it's gone."

Berq'an opened its eyes, startled. "Oh. It is, too." It scrambled to its knees and linked, "Thank God! That was awful! That was horrible! I never want to see it again! What was it?"

"It's the heart of Adversary, who's completely rejected God. It's what life totally without God looks like. By the way: Thank you; you saved my life."

It stared at him for a moment. "You're really okay?" Astro nodded. "I'm so happy!"

"Berq'an."

"Yeah?"

"Adversary lied. I'm not alone." He smiled. "You're not alone."

Berq'an thought about it for a moment. "Heh. We misfit together well, don't we?"

"We do. And God's best destiny for me ..." He closed his eyes. It was brutally hard for him to accept, but he knew it was true. "My destiny now is to be without Luna."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because, if Adversary had really wanted her dead, he wouldn't have made a special trip to bug me about it. Which means that, for some reason, her death, and my life without her, is a big problem for him; and that makes me happy—well, at least somewhat."

Berq'an giggled, and Evan-sa stirred.

"How are you, Astro?" she asked.

Astro sat up. "Pretty good, actually. Ready to get back into the fight."

"Good. That's the Astro I remember."

* * *

><p>"What is it?" demanded President Tremorten, seated comfortably in his office chair, sipping his morning coffee and nibbling at some fresh orange—no rationing for Mella's supporters.<p>

"Mr. President," said his minister of science, his image shimmering in the centre of the floor. "Our solar satellites have detected some worrisome activity on the surface of the sun. There's a large sunspot that is threatening to generate a major X-class flare. Our experts think that, if it does occur, there may be immediate danger of an unusually massive CME."

"X-class flare? CME? Speak Wesaiminish, for goodness sake!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I meant an explosion on the surface of the sun. The coronal mass ejection—the CME—would be a cloud of electrically charged particles that the sun throws off occasionally."

"So what's the problem?"

"If it's as big as they're forecasting, and it hits us full on, it would set up dangerous ground currents in the Earth. We may need to take our entire electrical grid off-line in two days to prevent the possibility of massive damage to our infrastructure."

The president sat up straight. "Are you certain of this?"

"Well, no sir, but the forecast at this time is that there's a fifty percent probability."

He settled back in his chair. "Oh, that's all. Don't worry about it then. Call me back if the odds start getting worse."

"But ..."

"That's all, Bento," Tremorten said testily, and cut the connection.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong?" Flin-bik asked Zog when he found him looking confused in the yard in front of the farmhouse a couple of days later.<p>

"I can't raise the web," Zog said. "The phone service is out too. I don't understand."

"Maybe there's something gone wrong with your radio. Let me try."

"There can't be anything wrong; my blue energy would fix it right away."

"Oh, that's right; I forgot. And I'm not getting anything either. You think we should go to Robovale undercover and see if the humans there know what's going on?"

"Let's go check with Astro about that first, just in case."

"Sure."

* * *

><p>"You're right," said Astro to Zog as he checked the radio spectrum. "I'm not even getting the channels that normally don't go off in an emergency."<p>

"What could have happened out there?" asked Flin-bik.

"I've heard of solar storms sometimes causing electrical problems, but nothing this big."

"So is it okay for us to go check out Robovale?" Zog asked.

"Sure, why not? If this is as big as it looks like, they'll be too busy to be checking for random androids." He grinned.

"That's for sure," said Flin-bik. "Let's go."

"See Hamegg first," Astro added. "If anybody knows anything, he will."

* * *

><p>Zog and Flin-bik had to walk, since, for security reasons, the androids had cut back flying to mission activity only. Once they got to the highway, they were surprised to find cars abandoned here and there along the side of the road.<p>

Zog got into one and turned it on. "It's an autopilot model," he said after playing with the controls. "With the web down, it won't run."

"So they had to leave them?"

"I guess. Either that or wait for somebody to give them a ride in a free-pilot one."

They got onto the old railway line where it passed near the road, and headed to Hamegg's place.

"This is really bad," Zane told them when he let them into the shop later. "There's been food rationing for a month now, and Hamegg's saying the power's going to be out for a while—like months or years maybe. Everything we've got in the refrigerator and freezer is going to spoil."

"I've got nothing else to feed my kids," said Hamegg, a note of worry in his voice, as he came up from the back.

"Let's take them back to the farm with us," said Flin-bik eagerly.

"I don't know," said Zog. "The humans might not like it."

"Well, get Dragon to ask, or something, but we've got to help them!"

"Okay, okay."

While Zog was busy with that, Hamegg asked Flin-bik, "Did you see any fires around here on your way in to town?"

"I think so," he answered. "But they weren't very big; you know, columns of smoke all over the place."

Hamegg nodded. "Transformer fires, it sounds like. I have a friend in Sanpacho with an interest in astronomy who I chat with now and again, and he told me the other day that the sun had erupted, and to look out for this kind of event. Why didn't the government do something to prepare? They must have known."

Flin-bik shrugged as Zog turned back to them.

"Dragon says they're okay with it," he said, "so let's get them ready to go."

"How far is it to this farm?" Hamegg asked. When Zog told him, he exclaimed, "And how are you proposing to get them there? Walk?"

"Um, yeah," said Zog. "That's how we got here, and it's not like we have a car or anything like that."

"Well, I still have a car, so we'll pack in as many as we can—with one of you in the front to navigate—and get them there that way. We might be able to do it in two trips, if I don't run out of fuel first." He scowled. "That's rationed too."

* * *

><p>"Are there any more appointments today?" President Tremorten asked his computer from where he stood at the window.<p>

"No, Mr. President," said the robotic voice. "What are your intentions for the rest of the day?"

"Call Brimney Locken for me."

"Yes, sir."

"Victoro," exclaimed his friend's image from the centre of the floor when the connection was complete. "What can I do for you today?"

"Are you up for a round or two of tennis this afternoon?"

"Why certainly. How does two o'clock sound?"

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

"Excellent. Do bring the wife. Emmy would be so put out if she didn't come."

"But of course I'll bring her. Have no fear of that. At two."

"At two." Locken looked like he had more to say.

"Yes, Brimney?" asked the president.

"Uh, Emmy and I just wanted to say 'thank you' for that heads-up you gave us about the sun storm yesterday. That was brilliant. I was able to notify all of my branch offices and take precautions to prevent any damage."

"Glad to be of assistance. We disciples of the Holy One must stick together in these difficult times, after all."

Locken bowed deeply. "May the Holy One live forever."

Tremorten bowed as well. "Forever."

The connection ended.

* * *

><p>Astro scanned around the farm as far as he could see from the androids' house. "Ran-tan?" he radioed finally. "Where you at?"<p>

"I'm over here helping with the construction of Hamegg's house."

"Oh, of course. Could you do something for me tomorrow?"

"Sure. What have you got in mind?"

"I'd really like to know how our farms are doing around the world, with what's happened because of the solar storm."

"You sure that's safe?"

"I'd be really surprised if there was radar working, since I haven't been able to even detect air traffic control."

"Okay then. I assume you want Evan-sa to stay behind so I can report in."

"That would be really helpful."

"We can do that," radioed Evan-sa. "I don't mind."

* * *

><p>"This is unreal!" Ran-tan linked as he soared over the first city he had come to.<p>

Evan-sa stared through her husband's eyes at the scene below him. Pitched battles were taking place in and around grocery stores, and looters were running wild, snatching whatever they thought they could use. Dead and dying could be seen everywhere. "They're terrified," she linked back.

"Yup," said Ran-tan. "They've got no clue what to do without power. But listen to this." He linked in his radio receiver, and she heard a newscast from one of the popular web services.

"You mean there's still power out there?"

"As near as I can tell, only the rich have got it."

Ran-tan could feel anger smouldering in Evan-sa's link. "That has to be the most evil thing I've ever heard of," she said.

"Tell me about it."

"I feel so sorry for those poor people."

"Me too, except they did choose to go along with Mella, and this is where it's gotten them. He can't protect them like our God protects us."

"Won't protect them, you mean."

"Well, that too. But he's just a human."

"We can't do any better. We're just androids."

"But we don't claim to be God."

"True enough. Where's the next farm?"

"Five hundred kilometres southeast of here. I'm on my way."

* * *

><p>"Astro!" radioed Orkan from the entrance to the farm that looked out onto the highway to Robovale the afternoon Ran-tan returned from his week-long tour. "We've got a problem."<p>

"On my way," Astro responded, and ran over to where Orkan was manning the gate.

He didn't need to ask what was up when he got there: Hundreds of weary-looking humans of all ages stood huddled in groups along the roadway, and a well-dressed middle-aged man stood beside Orkan.

"What do they want? Astro asked.

"We heard you had food here," said the man. "We lost all of ours in the power failure, and we haven't got the courage to stand up to the looters in the city. We're scared, and we're starving."


	24. Chapter 24: Miracles and Looking Forward

Momentarily stunned by the size of the problem in front of him, Astro finally said to the well-dressed man, "The only food here belongs to the humans; it'll have to be up to them what happens. I'll go talk to them right now."

"Thank you," said the man as Astro turned and ran back to the big farmhouse. Once there, he rang the bell that was used to call a meeting of the three couples who led the place, then waited in the kitchen for them to arrive.

It was almost supper time, so it didn't take long for them to assemble around the big table, and Astro explained the problem to them.

"How can we possibly feed them all?" asked Finna Sordat. "We barely have enough for ourselves, especially after Hamegg brought his children here." She glanced at her husband Peran.

"We agreed to let Hamegg do it for one reason," Peran said firmly. "We trust that God will give us what we need. I don't see how we can refuse these folks, even if we go short. _They_ are starving."

"That is very true," said his friend, Kattez Mirow. "But what about tomorrow, and the day after?"

"I don't think we have a choice: we share what we have," said Peran with a shrug. "We may all go hungry, but no-one starves."

"As long as they're willing to pull their own weight," Kattez said. "Even our sacred writings show little mercy for shirkers."

"And we can open up that land out back for more crops next year," said Peeny Ondney, the oldest woman on the farm. "By next year, we'll be able to feed everyone."

"Only if nobody else shows up," said Finna.

Astro stepped forward from where he had been leaning against the counter. "I think Mrs. Ondney has the right idea. If more come, we're going to have to open up more farms. There's plenty of unused land around here, so maybe us androids could build them houses to live in and clear their land while some of you guys teach them how to farm and hunt."

"That's about what it'll take," said Peran. "We don't have unlimited resources here. But what do we do for the neighbours at our door right now?"

"I say we feed them," snapped Peeny. "God'll get us by. He always has."

"Is it agreed then?" said Peran. Everyone nodded.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the six leaders, along with half a dozen androids bearing large baskets, showed up at the gate where the crowd was still waiting on the road.<p>

"This is all we can spare," Peeny announced. "Even we will go hungry tonight."

"Okay?" asked Astro. "Can we hand it out now?"

"Just a moment," she said. "Bring it all over here." The androids gathered around her, and she raised her hands and said, "God, you have given us good food to eat, and now others have come who are in great need. When you were a man, you provided for the hungry. Please help us now. Thank you." She looked at them again. "Go ahead."

Astro and the others started to distribute the food, half a bun and a chunk of cooked beef to each person.

"We all thank you for your generosity," said the well-dressed man. "We've had nothing for days." Many other people also expressed their gratitude as they started to get off the road and move over to a nearby field to sit down.

A while later, Astro realized there was something weird going on. "How much stuff have you got in your basket?" he asked Orkan.

"Oh. I ..." Orkan peeked into it. "Huh? It's like I haven't given anything out."

"Same with me. Keep going. I don't understand what's going on either, but I've got a hunch God's involved big time."

When the androids had made sure everybody had gotten the basic ration, they started over again, and kept giving out food until all of the people were full, including those already on the farm.

Then when they looked in their baskets, they were finally empty.

Peeny strode out into the centre of the field and called out, "I think it's only right that we kneel down here and say a big 'thank you' to our God for coming to our aid in our time of need."

Many of the people who had arrived that day were reluctant to do that, but they couldn't deny that something amazing had happened, and soon all were kneeling on the grass as Peeny led them in giving thanks.

* * *

><p>"Thank you very much for coming to get us," said the woman a month later, as Astro led the crowd of 'unholy ones' along the road from the prison camp towards the safe area for transfer to the nearest farm.<p>

"No problem," said Astro. "Glad to help."

Suddenly a shot rang out, and one of the people behind collapsed. More shots came from the trees around them, and more people fell.

"What's going on?" Astro radioed to Orkan high above.

"Ambush!" he answered. "They must be really well dug in. I can't see them."

Astro felt his anger rising: a murderous trap. "Everybody!" he radioed. "Protect the humans! I'll take the enemy!"

As the other androids swooped down around the crowd, he shot into the air and initialized his arm cannons. Then, sighting on the flashes of gunfire, he opened fire himself, blasting away until even the trees were broken and scattered everywhere. When he finally stopped, silence fell on the forest except for the groans of the wounded and the soft crackle of fires burning.

Warily he settled back onto the ground. "How are we doing?" he asked Orkan.

"A handful dead," he said. "And a lot of wounded. What should we do now?"

Astro checked his power level: it was predictably low from all the energy he'd just put out. "Get everyone to take the wounded to the farm right after we bury the dead. Then you check the woods for any survivors, while I lead the rest of the humans to the safe area."

"Right." Orkan started to organize the operation.

"Berq'an," Astro called.

"Yes sir."

"Get over to the Robovale farm at max acceleration, and get Peran Sordat. He's a physician, so he should be able to help us here. If he needs supplies, find a looted pharmacy, and see if you can salvage whatever he asks for."

"Got it." Berq'an rocketed into the sky and was almost immediately lost to sight.

Once the burials had been completed, the march resumed, and a young man approached Astro. "That's some serious firepower you've got there."

"M-hm." Astro glanced at him, trying to figure out what he was up to, then said, "Sometimes a 'droid's got to take a stand."

"So you're a robot, and yet you killed humans."

Astro stopped and looked him in the face. "That's the life of a warrior, isn't it? Sometimes you've got to choose who lives and who dies. And who was it forced me to make that choice?" He started walking again.

Startled, the young man fell silent for a while. Then he asked, "What's going to happen to the enemy survivors, if you find any?"

"We'll take them to the farm once all these people are all moved, and their injuries will be taken care of."

"Then what?"

"That's up to the people already at the farm. I don't know past that, but they've never turned anybody in need away before. Why?"

The young man sighed, and seemed to come to a decision. Pulling up his sleeve, he revealed a Mellanine tattoo. "I'm one of them—a 'plant'—but I don't want to be any more. They knew I was here, hiding, and they betrayed me. I would have been killed if their plan had succeeded."

"You're surrendering?"

The man took a deep breath. "Now that I know that you're not the monster the Holy One's made you out to be: Yes, yes I am." As they continued along the road, he went on, "Speaking of monsters, do you know how many people died because of that big solar storm last month?"

"No clue," Astro said. "The only news we get is from the news services that are still up."

"Well," he said grimly. "I overheard my unit's commanding officer say that they were expecting over four _billion_ dead, most of them city people starving to death if they survived the initial fights for the remaining food."

Astro froze. "And how have _your_ people survived?" he asked icily.

"It makes me sick to admit this: We've looked after ourselves just fine: no power outages; no shortages." He sighed, and his head drooped. "I'm ashamed to admit I'm a human being."

Astro took his hand. "Come with us as you said. These people will show you how to be a real human."

* * *

><p>"It is going very well," said the image of Dr. Mella smugly to President Tremorten, seated in his office some months later. "Our efforts, including our reaction to the Great Solar Storm, have greatly reduced the surplus population of the world."<p>

"Yes indeed, Holy One" answered the president. "No more shortages or starving people. Even the unholy ones have been silenced."

"That was our greatest victory. But one victory still eludes us: the Astro robots. You have been entirely unable to find out where those mechanical do-gooders are now hiding?"

"My agents have been scouring Wesaimin for the last year, ever since the Chinbury disaster. They are simply unable to locate them. Numerous of the agents, however, have reportedly disappeared in the course of their duties, so we have to assume that the robots are still out there and active."

"I grow weary of your excuses, but we still have many unholy ones in our care in spite of their predations. What of the plasma weapon? Have your experts been able to find the cause of that great blast?"

"No, Holy One, but they have determined that, if the plasma gun was the cause, it was a fluke, a one-time event, since they have been completely unable to duplicate the accident."

"Then make sure to have agents trained in the gun's use as a precaution, and keep the remaining unholy ones healthy enough so that they do not die before the anniversary of my ascendancy comes in nine months."

"Why is that, Holy One?"

"I have a plan: that is all you need to know. Just do as I say."

Tremorten stood up and bowed. "At your command, Holy One."

* * *

><p>Astro sat under the big oak tree and gazed happily at Flin-bik and Mee-spen's second child, newly begotten pink ball that it was. Technically it was his second grandchild, but, with the way they would be reproducing, keeping track of relationships much past one's children would soon become a bookkeeping nightmare.<p>

There were eighteen androids now, counting the other baby just begotten by the newly-weds, Zin-laz and Abo-kew. The next baby to come would probably be Baby Seventeen and Eighteen's, if they were able to marry. After that, there wouldn't be another until Zog and Dragon's time four months later—as long as nobody tried to convert another robot in the meantime. Not that he had a problem with it; after all, Zog, Dragon, and Berq'an had all turned out just fine.

He put Seventeen down on the ground between his legs, and it glowed contentedly for a while as it ate.

"Hey Astro," said Berq'an as he came over and sat down beside him.

"How's the harvesting going?"

"Good. They should have plenty for winter."

"I'm glad. They don't need another winter like the last one."

"I hear you. You know Ran-tan and Evan-sa are getting pretty restless for space."

"Yup. And I've told them that, once Seventeen and Eighteen are grown up, the humans should be okay and they can go, and take up to three other couples with them if they want. I'll just have a hard time saying good-bye."

"I know. They'll be totally out of communication with us. It'll be awful."

Astro touched its hand and linked, "'They'? I thought you were going too."

"I've changed my mind. I'm not ready yet."

Astro felt the bond Berq'an had with him, and didn't have the heart to argue. After all, Berq'an knew that it was one of the main reasons he was still sane after ... Luna. (How long would this go on hurting?)

"Don't feel so bad," Berq'an linked. "You did lose half of yourself. I'm going to lose a big part of myself when I finally have to leave you behind too, but I really don't feel like it's time yet."

"I can't imagine how you _could_ go, with no-one in your heart and mind. It's just not right for an android somehow."

"Yup; I can't help believing that God's got someone for me, somehow, even if I can't marry."

"You're probably right."

Astro stared up at the leaves above him. What was his destiny going to be when the others were _all_ gone from Earth, with no-one in his heart and mind?


	25. Chapter 25: Descending Uphill

"Here are the preliminary plans for the celebration," said Mella to President Tremorten three months later.

Tremorten scanned them quickly. "That's almost a complete reconstruction of Gattshier's downtown! We'll have to pull out all the stops to get it done in time."

"I'm sure you can manage it. Even though it is grand, it isn't complicated."

The president switched to another screen that showed a list. "You're inviting everyone?"

"All my disciples, all my Mellanines, all of them! This is our victory feast, Victoro! All our enemies have been crushed under our feet. We stand alone. I am the true god."

He bowed his head. "May your reign last forever." Straightening up again, he said, "What of the Astro robots? Isn't there still a danger from them, Holy One?"

"Come now. They are just a handful in number. Annoying, yes, but they are not a threat to us. After all, have they ever come out and attacked us? No. Do not worry about them. Just implement the usual security measures. That will be quite sufficient."

"At your command." Tremorten bowed again, and Mella's image vanished.

The president then stared at the spot where his master's projection had just stood. The Holy One had given up on the robots? That didn't sound right. Ah, of course it didn't: he must be preparing something secret for them. He strolled over to the bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey, and held it up in a toast: Great is the Holy One!

* * *

><p>Orkan stared down from the clouds of the overcast night sky at the prison camp with his super-vision and checked out the defences. "They've got tanks and big guns this time," he radioed to the rest of the androids, who were hidden in among the surrounding trees. "And some of those guns are plasma!"<p>

"That'll be no problem if we're underground," replied Flin-bik.

"Just the same," broke in Astro, "they're ready for us."

"Okay," radioed Orkan. "Let's get going. Just so I can keep everybody straight: astros tunnel under the heavy weapons and knock them out; then, once that's done, lunas attack the command centre and barracks."

"Roger," came back numerous times from the androids, and the operation began.

"Hey," radioed Orkan after a few seconds. "I've lost contact with the astros!"

"I can still talk to Flin-bik," replied Mee-spen.

"And I can reach Tan-bon," radioed Ish-pah.

"They've got something under the surface," Orkan radioed. "Mee-spen, tell them all to stop digging, and get Flin-bik to come back. I'll monitor when I can read him again."

"Roger," she replied.

"There," Orkan radioed when Flin-bik came back on. "Now check for what's doing the blocking."

Flin-bik dug around. "It's a two-centimetre-thick steel plate, ten centimetres below the surface," he reported after a minute."And yeah, it appears to be a batch of plates welded together under the entire camp."

"Meant to stop the tunnelling. Boy, they must have spent a fortune here! Okay, change of plans: We'll just cut the plate beneath the building with God's people in it with our hand rockets, and carry the whole bunch away like that. They won't be expecting that, I'm sure."

"No doubt," linked Maz-ven. "Just don't get too cute."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, then radioed, "Let's get on it, 'droids! I'll direct you from here."

Two hours later, Astro stuck his head through a hole just made in the floor of the 'unholy ones' dormitory, and, synthesizing a gruff man's voice for effect, shouted into the quiet room, "Alright, you crumbs! On the floor, now! Hut! Hut! Let's move it!"

There was some grumbling as the lighter sleepers woke up the others in the dark, but they quickly obeyed the sudden command.

When everyone was in position, Astro radioed, "They're ready."

Numerous exclamations and squeals broke out when the building suddenly surged into the air. By the time the soldiers were able to react, it had disappeared beyond the trees.

With a little camouflage, it served very well as a livestock shed out at the new farm, and the cots that came with it helped the people get by until proper beds could be built.

* * *

><p>"Astro," said Orkan the next morning. "I picked up an interesting news item while the other astros were cutting that plate last night."<p>

"Oh yeah? Let's see it."

Orkan got the computer-screen generator while the rest of the androids gathered around to see.

Once it was hooked up, an announcer appeared and said, "Today, the Holy One, Dr. Cedillo Mella, President of the World, and Prophet of the Divine Spirit, has announced that in two months time he will be holding a grand celebration for all of his disciples in Gattshier, the recently-declared capital city of the nations, on the second anniversary of his ascendancy. The highlight of the festivities will be the public execution of all remaining unholy ones, those who have stubbornly defied all efforts at retraining, and remain unrepentant in their false beliefs. ..."

The screen shut down, and Orkan said, "The rest of it was pretty boring, but I knew you'd want to see that part."

"We can't let him do that!" shouted Sheh-va, jumping to her feet. "We've got to save them now!"

"Yes," said Astro. "We do have to do something, that's for sure, but it's going to take planning. There's still a lot of them out there, and we've only got two months. Anybody got any ideas?"

"Can we step up our breaking into the prison camps?" asked Bir-git.

"That's not a good idea," said Orkan. "You saw what the last one was like. There's probably going to be deaths—especially ours—if we start rushing things now. So it's safe to assume we can't save them all."

"But there's going to be their deaths _for sure_ if we don't try," said Sheh-va.

"Maybe there's another option," Astro said after a brief silence from the group. "An opportunity. But I won't say what it is right now—I've got to do some research. Keep thinking though, and please share any ideas you may have: the crazier, the better."

* * *

><p>Astro sat alone and naked on the ledge of Mount Wildfield. His feet dangling over the edge, he stared at the setting moon.<p>

"God," he said to the surrounding darkness. "Will it work? I'll only do it if you say it will. There's no point otherwise."

"Hello my astro," said Luna, who stood glowing beside him. She covered him with a shining white blanket which filled his heart with peace, then sat down beside him and put her arm around him.

He touched her hand. "Hi."

"Your idea will work. In fact, it's the finishing touch to God's plan that's been unfolding since before your father made you."

Nodding, he said, "So it's my best destiny after all."

"Yes. God is very satisfied with everything that you've done up to now, so don't let anything get you down."

"I'll do my best."

"Of course. As always, I'll be waiting for you."

Astro was suddenly alone again in the night, but he knew that that blanket was still covering his heart, and that Luna would always be right beside him. Satisfied, he lay down and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The four-month-old luna, Pree-ghen, stared up at the moon in the early evening sky.<p>

"What are you thinking about, Grand-daughter?" Flin-bik asked her, making her jump.

"Oh, I didn't hear you coming," she said. "I'm thinking, Zog and Dragon's child: is it an astro? It should be grown up by now."

"You're free to go and find out, if you want."

"I guess."

"Inco#ing!" crackled on their radios.

"We hear you," Flin-bik replied. "Who are you?"

"'#win-t#."

"Sorry, couldn't read you. Come on down and tell us."

"R#ger."

An hour later, the new android, dressed and no longer armour-black, said, "My name is Twin-ta, second child of Zog and Dragon."

"And you're bald," said Pree-ghen, plainly disappointed. "You're not an astro."

"Of course. That's why I'm here: to see Berq'an."

"I'll ... I'll go get him," she said, and ran off toward the north field, where Berq'an was helping with the crops.

"I could have radioed," Twin-ta said.

"Let her go," Flin-bik said. "After all, you just broke her heart. She was hoping for a wedding."

"I can imagine, but I'm glad that at least there's another android like me."

"I hear we've got a lunatic visitor," said Astro, strolling over from the androids' house. "Hi, I'm Astro."

"You're Astro?" Its eyes widened. "Wow!"

"Now, now, don't get all gushy. I'm just an android."

"I know that, but you ... They told me ... Um. Gosh. Astro."

Berq'an suddenly dropped from the sky. "Pree-ghen just told me!" It gazed happily at Twin-ta. "You're bald."

"You too," replied Twin-ta. "Want to link?"

"Let's do it!"

As soon as they grabbed hands and linked, energy suddenly jumped from one to the other, and rings formed on their left hands.

Berq'an stared at its new ring. "We're married?"

"You can't be," said Astro. "You didn't say the promises."

It held up its hand. "But I've got a ring. See?"

Astro studied it for a moment. "It's gold. Wedding rings are silver." Looking up, he said, "Release the link." They did. "Are you still linked?"

"Yeah!" shouted Twin-ta. "This is so cool!"

"I've got it," said Astro. "I know what your destiny is."

"What? Tell us," said Berq'an.

"Remember how worried you were about being out of communication with the lunatics a while back?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're the solution. Married androids stick together to have families. You're not married, so you can live apart and still enjoy each other in your mind and heart."

"Okay ..." said Twin-ta. "I'm not following you."

"Think of it this way: What if one of you stays here, and the other goes to the moon?"

Twin-ta's face lit up. "You 'droids can communicate with the lunatics through us!"

"Exactly. You two can be our long-distance connection."

Berq'an abruptly shed its clothes and turned to Astro. "'Bye. I'll be in touch." It shot into the sky.

"What happened?" Astro asked, as he stared after it.

"It's always wanted to go to the moon," Twin-ta said, "and I always wanted to see ..." It looked away shyly. "... um, you, so the choice was easy."

Astro held out his blue hand for a link. "Come on; I'll introduce you to everyone."

"Thanks!"

* * *

><p>Three and a half weeks later, Twin-ta stared at Astro as they shared a link before sleep time. "I just noticed: You're hiding something, aren't you?"<p>

"Yup. Mella's second anniversary's coming up in a couple of days in Gattshier, and I've got to do something for it."

"What?"

"It's my secret for now, but you'll find out very soon."


	26. Chapter 26: To Give So They Can Live

Astro scanned the faces of the androids standing around him in the androids' house as evening fell. "You all understand what I want you to do?"

Orkan nodded. "We're to delay in any way we can all of the vehicles bringing God's humans from the camps to Gattshier, making sure the Mellanines don't take us down with plasma guns. Now, can you finally tell us what you're up to?"

"Sure. Tomorrow, Mella's throwing his anniversary party in the capital for all his disciples. He announced that he would be executing all of the 'unholy ones' remaining under his control. You all know this, but I'm going instead, because it's a God-given opportunity to end this mess."

They stared at him.

"Dad?" said Flin-bik. "What if they have plasma guns? You ... you'd kill them. You'd kill _all_ the humans at the party! How can you?"

"Oh no," whispered Twin-ta, and it started to weep. "Oh no." Suddenly, it straightened up and spoke in Ran-tan's voice. "Why, Dad?"

"The humans can't get rid of Mella by themselves: he's just too strong and smart. So I've got to end this, because I have the power. And if I don't, in a while he'll end up destroying all the humans, and everything to do with them. It's what Adversary's wanted all along, to get back at God."

"We've already lost Mom," said Ran-tan. "Do we have to lose you too?"

He leaned against the wall, then slid wearily to the floor. "I don't have a choice; I really don't. It's why your mother had to ... to die when she did. If she hadn't ..." He struggled to his feet again as he forced his feelings to submit. "If she hadn't, I wouldn't have known what to do, and I wouldn't have had the courage to face Mella—the courage to die. I would have been afraid of leaving her behind alone. God took that burden away from me." He went over to Twin-ta and linked through to his first-begotten son, "Good-bye, Ran-tan. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad. I ... I guess I'll see you ... in our eternal destiny."

"Mom too."

"Y-yeah." Ran-tan broke the link just as his grief threatened to overwhelm it.

Astro turned to Flin-bik. "My second and precious son: I am, and always have been, a warrior. I've hated it from the start, but it was my best destiny. I kill only when it prevents more death. The deaths of the humans at that party will end the mass murder that Mella started, and this death ..." He turned to the others. "_My_ death, that God chose for me long before the day my Dad first put my core in my chest, is how God will save the humans." He walked slowly out of the house.

* * *

><p>He pinched the pebble between thumb and forefinger as he sat beneath the great oak tree. Night had fallen. "I don't want to die," he muttered to the little stone. "But if I don't do it now, I'll just be doing it later. And if I don't do it at all, I won't be able to live with myself, so I don't gain much. No." He crushed the pebble. "I'll lose absolutely everything."<p>

Twin-ta came over and sat beside him. "Astro sir. Could I ask a really big favour?"

He laid his head back against the tree trunk. "Sure."

"Would you download your archives to me?"

After a moment's thought, he asked, "Why do you want them?"

"It's, um, because I want ... I want to keep alive something of what made you the android you are, you know? We shouldn't forget."

Astro chuckled. "My epitaph, eh?"

"Sir?"

"Look the word up sometime." He extended his blue hand. "Let's do it."

"Thanks so much!"

* * *

><p>Orkan stared at the other eleven androids as they stood under a large maple tree somewhere west of the world capital city. "Okay," he said, "Dad's in position about a hundred kilometres outside of Gattshier. Our job is to disable any vehicles transporting God's humans to that city so he won't have to worry about them when he goes in. You're going out as couples so that one of you, hiding in the clouds or the sun's glare, can guide the other, who will be underground. This is to protect you from any plasma weapons they may have. As soon as you've stopped that group of vehicles, see if you can touch out the guards. If not, don't worry about it; take off fast and find another group. Please keep in touch with me as you progress." He took Maz-ven's hand. "And may God make this work."<p>

The twelve of them shot into the air and headed off in six different directions.

"Okay, Dad," radioed Orkan a little later. "We're making contact with the transports."

Astro stood on a hill, gazing towards the north-east, with Twin-ta beside him. "Thanks," he replied. "I'll be on my way in a moment."

"Thanks for bringing me along," said Twin-ta.

Astro gave a wan smile. "You know what you've got to do?"

"Yeah. I'll be twenty kilometres outside of Gattshier, recording everything you transmit to me."

"That's right. I want the humans to see who all is in that city when it goes up. Then they'll know that Mella and his disciples are really all gone." Astro removed his clothes and laid them neatly on the ground.

"Why are you doing that?" Twin-ta asked.

He grinned. "Nakedness bugs humans, and I seriously want to bug everybody there, especially Mella. Now, let's go."

* * *

><p>Astro hovered at the edge of Gattshier, wondering where the party was being held. Then he spotted the huge new stadium, and knew where he had to go. Arriving above the main entrance, he saw below him what looked like a whole division of soldiers with tanks and other heavy weapons.<p>

No problem: he simply flew in. A quick glance around, and he dropped into a cavernous corridor between sections of seats. Then, crumpling onto his knees, he covered his face with his hands. God, there's so many out there; what, a quarter million at least? I am going to kill them—all of them—and many more who are living in this city.

But they've killed over four billion, and they'll kill the rest if I don't ... do this.

He stood up, clenching his fists. No time for regrets now.

Tears streamed down his cheeks.

* * *

><p>President Tremorten gazed out onto the huge crowd as an army of teenagers finished a synchronized march along the track in front of the stand where he and the other national rulers sat with the Holy One himself, god and president of the world, basking in the massive victory celebration.<p>

Suddenly the music cut off, creating an abrupt blanket of silence over the crowd, which was gradually replaced by widespread murmuring as everyone started to react. A stir started at the far left end, and a moment later the familiar face of Astro Tenma, the robot boy, appeared on the vast screens that were scattered around the stadium.

Tremorten stared: What was he doing here? And why was he dressed only in black shorts and red boots? That was pretty bold! Turning, Tremorten checked on the Holy One, who was now standing surrounded by his bodyguards. These were scrambling about with some bulky weapons as Mella gave them orders. Was this the trap the Holy One had hinted at when he refused any security inside the stadium except for his own guards? But there was only the one robot. Why not all of them—however many that might actually be?

He received a beep on his communication implant, and his chief of security said, "Mr. President, the transports bringing the unholy ones here are being attacked, apparently by the Astro robots." Well, that explains that, thought Tremorten. The chief continued, "What are your instructions?"

"Don't worry about it now," he replied quietly. "The Astro Tenma robot himself just arrived here on his own, and the Holy One's preparing to blast him with the plasma guns."

"Understood."

He could now see Astro in the distance, approaching the track in the centre of the stadium. _That_ was the mighty attack robot that had defeated Leader Orkan and his army? That little fellow? What was he hiding?

"Sorry to interrupt your speech," Astro thundered through the sound system, making the president jump. "It's all garbage anyway." That triggered a collective gasp from the entire crowd. "I've come for you, Mella," he continued. "You're finished. You've murdered four billion humans, and now it's your turn to face death—to face me!"

"Berq'an, my little robot," said Mella smugly. "You have come at last. I do not fear you, for I have the dreaded plasma gun. It is you who will be destroyed, and then I will hunt down the rest of your friends, and destroy them as well."

"By the time I'm gone, they'll be on the moon and safe from your murdering ways." He was about half way to the stage at this point. "And if I'd left you alone, you'd have destroyed _all_ of mankind. That was your ultimate plan, wasn't it? These people here aren't your friends, just your tools, a means to end it all, to bring everything into pure chaos. That was what you dreamed of."

The stadium was in turmoil as people either argued with each other or tried to shout him down.

Tremorten studied the robot's image on one of the screens: This plainly wasn't an attack; Astro was merely taunting the Holy One, just as if ... as if he wanted to die. To die? No, not exactly. He didn't appear to be intimidated or surprised by the plasma guns. What was he up to?

Astro continued to march forward. "I am Astro Tenma, you unholy one, you false god! Kill me if you can! You've tried before, and you've failed every time."

Tremorten suddenly saw it as he watched Mella turn purple with rage: It's not that Astro wanted to die; he wanted to be shot! The blast at Chinbury! This had to be his own trap!

Astro stopped in the centre of the track and spread his arms high, as if in victory. "Do your worst! I'm here!"

Tremorten shot out of his seat. "No!" he cried. "Don't sh... !"

* * *

><p>Twin-ta was startled to see in the transmission a great glowing figure appear suddenly behind Mella—Astro's subtext identified it as an angel of God—and bind him with a shining chain just like the one that held Adversary, who stood to the angel's right. The three vanished, and the transmission cut off.<p>

There was a brilliant flash in the sky to the north-east at the same instant.

"Good-bye," Twin-ta said tearfully, then linked to Berq'an on the moon, "You see that?"

"Yeah, we were all watching. It was a bright spark that ... died out quickly. We ..."

Sorrow flooded the link, and it was almost an hour before Twin-ta was able to take off for the rendezvous point to meet with the rest of the androids.

* * *

><p>Astro stared at the white fire that surrounded him. Had it worked?<p>

"Yes, it worked," said Luna, who stood a bit above him and to his right. "Come on."

She offered him her hand, and effortlessly lifted him up to her level. Suddenly they were somewhere else, in a great green field with an intensely blue sky.

"God!" Astro exclaimed as a man in glowing white appeared, and he ran over and gave him a big hug. "Thanks for everything, sir!"

"You're welcome, Astro," said God. "And thank you for what you've done. It was perfect."

Astro pulled away and chuckled. "Of course: it was all your idea. So what now?"

He smiled and nodded toward Luna. "She knows."

Luna grinned. "We're going to be keeping an eye on all our children. They'll be needing God's help and protection for a very long time."

"Are the humans going to be okay?" Astro asked God.

"Yes. They're in my hands, after all."

"Sure."

* * *

><p>"Astro did that?" Finna Sordat said as the entire human community of the farm gathered in the yard to greet the androids. "We grieve with you for your loss."<p>

Orkan nodded. "He bought you your freedom. What'll you guys do now? Go back to the cities and rebuild?"

Peran Sordat gave a bitter laugh. "The cities? We don't have the wealth to return to them, or the interest. And they were a liability anyway."

"How do you figure that?" asked Maz-ven.

"Evil spreads too easily where people live close together, and technology also pulled us far away from putting our trust in God. We're free of that now, which means a lot to us, and we are grateful to God for it. What are you all going to do?"

"It's time for us to fulfil our destiny and head to the moon," Orkan said. "Six of our family already live there, and God did give us the galaxy after all."

The twelve of them—Twin-ta was staying behind, at least for a while—turned on their black armour, then shed their clothes.

Peeny Ondney stepped forward and said, "God be with you then."

"Thanks," Orkan said, and they blasted off into the afternoon sky.

"Why aren't you going with them?" she asked Twin-ta once the others were out of sight.

"Astro gave me all his memories a few days ago, and I just want to get to know you humans a little better, since he loved you so much."

"I see. And I'd very much like to get to know _him_ better. It would be an injustice for us to forget him when we owe him such a great deal." She held out a hand. "So come then, child. Let's talk."

* * *

><p>Dr. Tenma sat glumly at the rough wooden table in the log house he shared with Melissa and the now thirteen-year-old Sam. Dr. Elefun sat uncertainly, watching the three of them.<p>

"What's it been, three and a half years since I said I wouldn't lose him again?" Tenma said. "Then I lost him to President Stone. And now he sacrifices himself to save mankind."

"And that is a legacy that would make any father proud," said Elefun.

"Yes." He sighed. "I couldn't have asked for a better son. I just wish he could have lived longer."

"Do I make you proud?" asked Sam diffidently.

"Yes, son, you do."

"But I can't ever be a hero like Astro."

"He was an android," said Elefun. "As such he was capable of very different achievements than any human could hope to attain. But that has nothing to do with his heroism. He is a hero because he did not hold back. He gave everything of what he was to win his victories."

"That's what you've got to do, Sam," said Melissa. "Give everything of what _you_ are. Your victories may be smaller than his, but they will be your victories."

"So I should be the best farmer I can be?"

"Exactly," said Elefun.

"And the best husband and father, when that time comes," added Tenma.

Twelve-year-old Eidan popped her head in at the door. "Is Sam here?" Spotting him, she said, "Come on. You said you'd help me with Missy's pen." Missy was her kid goat.

"Alright," Sam said reluctantly as he stood up. "I'm coming." He headed out the door after her.

Tenma leaned back in his chair and gave a wan smile. "You know, we've lost so much ..."

"And you couldn't be happier?" said Melissa.

"And I couldn't be happier." He gave her a kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>And so it ends.<strong>

**Thank you, good readers, for coming with me on this journey exploring Astro's life. It's been a fun ride.**

**Astro Tenma**


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